Freshman Year
by Fighting Chicken
Summary: A look at Kim and Ron's first semester at the Global Justice Academy.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Not really necessary as far as I know, but for tradition's sake: I do not own Kim Possible or any of the characters contained therein.

Ron Stoppable invited himself into the new Possible residence a little while before he had to be at Smarty Mart. He glanced out the window, and watched Kim's father open an envelope. He seemed to be reading, but soon he dropped the letter and the rest of the mail, and began to almost frolic back to the house.

"I wonder why Mr. Dr. P is acting this way," Ron thought to himself. Just then, Dr. Possible came back inside and answered Ron's question.

"Good news everyone! Our insurance company ruled that the destruction of our house was an act of civil disorder and not an act of war, and thus is covered by our homeowners' policy," said the beaming rocket scientist. "So, basically our new house is already paid for."

"It also can't hurt that we stopped the Diablos just short of the CEO's house," added Kim, recalling the phone call that her family had received just about a year before then.

"Too bad you didn't save any deans of any colleges you were interested in. Maybe one of them could have, you know, ACCEPTED ME!!!" In spite of a good (by his standards) senior year, Ron had yet to hear back from any of the dozens of colleges to which he had applied.

"Ron, don't panic. Chances are, if someone accepted..."

"IF?!? SomeONE?!? KP, I thought you believed in me!"

"No, no! I do! It's just, that, well, there are a lot of things about you that only I can see. They aren't the sort of things that sniveling bureaucrats look at. Things that would get you in. Things that _should_ get you in."

"Sorry about the outburst back there."

"No big, it happens."

"Look on the bright side, Kim. At least I haven't gotten any rejection letters."

"I'm not sure how bright of a side that is," said Kim. "It's like they're getting suck into a vortex created by the Pan-Dimensional Vortex Inducer. It's about due to be stolen again."

"Don't be silly, KP; that's my job. Besides, if something had gone wrong with the PDVI, someone would have called Wade by now."

"True. I would have guessed that if they were going to reject you, they would at least have the courtesy to send you a letter."

"So, not only do they not want me, they don't even think enough of me to send a proper notice of them not wanting? Harsh, KP, harsh."

"Hey, don't blame me, I'm just an errand girl, sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill."

"What?"

"Never mind, I've got to be at work in an hour. Monique and I are the only ones whose requests for the day off weren't granted. Good thing business has been light lately."

"Yeah, I have work soon as well, maybe it will get my mind off this whole college thing. It's a good thing they moved housewares fifty aisles away from pets."

* * *

  
"Ronald, we're going to be renovating the pets department for the next few weeks. Until then, we are transferring you to housewares." When Ron heard these words, his heart sank a good cubit and a half. Housewares meant Barkin, and both had grown weary of one another at Middleton High School and thus were inclined to avoid one another at their common place of employment. For Barkin, having a couple more hands to help move slow cookers and coffee grinders was one bright spot in this news, although Ron didn't see it this way.

"Stoppable, while you're over here, I'd like to talk with you about something important."

"Mister B, I graduated. You can't teach me anyone more, so there!" Rufus jumped onto Ron's shoulder and was about to blow a raspberry at Ron's long-time nemesis, but Ron calmed him down.

"Rufus, it's performance evaluation week. I really don't need a 'does not work well with others' on there."

"And lording your graduation over one's co-worker is not the way to get good reviews. I still have the ability to have you join Rockwaller in summer school. If only I could have sent the other two to join her."

"Well, I..."

"As you might say, boo-yah." Ron had to admit that Barkin had the upper hand here through words or actions, and Ron chose actions, building a pyramid of slow cookers.

"Ah, the classic pyramid. I'm sure your father could tell us the percentage that we save in breakage by using this setup instead of a wall."

"One deep or two deep?"

"Two deep, three high."

"I'll do that."

"I want the answer this time tomorrow, or someone may find themselves volunteered for a double shift on Friday." Barkin went off to help a customer unsure about whether they wanted three five-gallon storage bins or five three-gallon storage bins. Meanwhile, Ron was lost in an internal monologue.

"Let's see, I still haven't been accepted to college anywhere, I graduated from high school and I'm still getting homework, there's always a third thing that goes wrong. What could it be?"

"Ron Stoppable. Associate Ron Stoppable, this is Will Du of Global Justice, report to the front of the store immediately."

"Well, Ron, I guess the important thing I was going to talk with you about will have to wait. Remember your assignment. I want a rough draft of the report two days before the due date."

* * *

Virtually everyone had finished picking out their summer wardrobes from Club Banana, and it would be several weeks before anyone would be doing much of any back-to-school shopping, so it really wasn't necessary to have more than two or three (today, two) employees in the store at any given time. At this given time, those two employees were Monique and Kim Possible.

"Retail therapy hasn't cured your summertime blues, and that's about all this doctor seems to be good at prescribing," Monique told Kim.

"It's just the whole Ron sitch, considering how many colleges he applied to, and to not even hear from any of them. Even Wade doesn't know what's going on. Besides, for me at least, coming here is a way of getting away from some of my problems for a while. Ron's job, on the other hand..."

"Girl, _you_ need to be where he get away from his problems." Monique cut Kim off, although she sensed that there was a significant possibility that Kim was just going to trail off.

"I guess I've been that pretty much the whole time that we've known each other, but either way...I thought Ron would get accepted _somewhere_."

"That _is_ ferociously weird. I just hope that combined with spending eight hours a day with Barkin doesn't break Ron." Monique trailed off, then abruptly changed the subject. "Actually, I've really been wondering about what you told me about graduation night."

"You know..." Kim sensed that the conversation with Monique was veering strongly into the realm of awkweirditude, and she wandered towards the stockroom. After all, some things just should not be discussed in public. Fortunately for the two of them, an out came in the form of a customer, although once Monique got a look at this particular patron, she figured that she was not the one that this customer came to see.

"Ma'am, Kim's in the back. I'll get her for you."

* * *

"Thanks for bailing me out. There was no way that was going to turn out well for the Ronster." Ron met Will Du with an unprecedented degree of gratitude. However, Global Justice's once (and future?) number one agent was fairly cordial himself.

"You're welcome. Anyway, I would like to talk with you about your college situation. Come with me." Ron began to protest, saying that he needed to clock out; however, Will pulled out a small electronic device of some sort.

"Done."

"How did you..."

"Standard issue. People that agents less competent than myself were picking up would say they needed to clock out, or turn off the stove or something like that, then they would make a run for it...or they'd come back right away, but that still would put us behind schedule. Point is, this device saves time and money. You have been clocked out and we're on our way."

"Where?"

"You'll see."

* * *

"Dr. Director? What are you doing here?" asked Kim.

"Come with me. We have some important business to tend to."

"Hang on a second. Monique? Can you fly solo for a little while? I think this is kind of important."

"OK," said Monique with a hint of indignation.

"So, what brings you here?"

"Firstly, I have an explanation for Ron's college situation. And second, I would like to discuss with you your own future plans. Trust me, everything will make more sense after we reach our destination."

"Which is..."

"...not around here. Time is of the essence...after we hit the food court; I haven't had lunch yet."

* * *

"They should have met us here. Where are they?" Will Du was growing impatient. He and Ron were parked at what appeared to be a rental car lot near the airport.

"Who's they?"

"Dr. Director and Miss Possible."

"What does Kim have to do with this?"

"Like I said earlier, once all relevant parties are present, we will explain everything. Seeing as Miss Possible was working today, that must mean...uh-oh."

"Uh-oh?"

"Let's just say that being director of Global Justice doesn't allow much time for shopping. Her American Excess Unobtanium card must be getting quite a workout."

"We could be here a while."

"You think? I'll see if I can reel them in." Will attempted to contact his boss, first via his communication device, then by an old-fashioned text message. The latter of these received a response in kind.

"I have recovered Miss Possible and I am bringing her to the rendezvous point."

"Stoppable was collected nearly an hour ago. We've been waiting since then." Dr. Director did not respond to this message. Will briefly wondered if he had been too snippy, but he decided that Betty would understand, so instead of texting an awkward apology, he reclined his seat to a nearly horizontal position and shut his eyes. Ron was about to do likewise when a vehicle very similar to the one he currently occupied pulled up nearby. He glanced over and saw two familiar figures walk towards him. He opened the door to greet the two of them.

"Good afternoon, Ronald," said Dr. Director. "If you wouldn't mind stepping aside, I'd like to get down to business ASAP."

"KP, has she told you anything?"

"No. And seeing as Wade hasn't tried to contact me, I figure it's not going to be mission-related."

"You are correct. Well, at least it's not directly mission-related. Now hurry up. We have a plane to catch."

"Isn't that kind of old fashioned?" asked Ron. "I mean, couldn't you just whoosh us there in one of those tube-thingies?"

"Down for maintenance." The four of them drove over to a hangar and boarded a small business jet.

* * *

"Thank goodness for maintenance. And taxpayer dollars," said Ron as he leaned back in one of the rather luxurious seats in the jet's cabin.

"Actually, this is privately financed," Dr. Director explained. "Global Justice holds a good number of lucrative patents."

"That's all well and good," said Kim, "but it still doesn't answer the larger question of 'Where are we going?'" Suddenly the plane went into a sharp turn and dive. Ron glanced out the window and saw what looked like fireworks. He then glanced towards where the air sickness bag was located and fortunately for everyone on board, he found it. After regaining his senses, he shot a somewhat puzzled and irate look towards Agent Du.

"OK, first of all, who would be shooting off fireworks in the middle of the day?"

"That would be us," said Will. "Just a little diversion for the missile heading our way." Will noticed a look of panic beginning to creep across Ron and Rufus's faces, so he quickly added, "Don't worry, it would have hit us by now if it _were_ going to hit us.

"I guess Gemini was having a particularly bad day," muttered Dr. Director, a few feet ahead of the males in the cabin. "On the other hand, he only shot off one missile, and a very primitive one at that. I guess he only had to can Agent Tau, or someone of equal or lesser stature."

In spite of the quick detour, the plane landed at a small airstrip, and the four of them climbed into a van similar to the other ones in which they had ridden today. About ten minutes later, Kim and Ron emerged from the van and found themselves in what appeared to be a run-of-the-mill office park. However, the two of them would soon realize there was something more to this part of northern Virginia than meets the eye, especially after Dr. Director told them,

"Miss Possible, Mr. Stoppable, welcome to the Global Justice Academy."

* * *

AN: Hmm, a story about Kim and Ron in college. How original. Not much happens here, but more will happen later, I hope. It's good to get back to writing. Review and I'll probably reply. Don't hold your breath waiting for new chapters.


	2. Chapter 2

"It doesn't look like much," said Ron.

"Looks can be deceiving," said Dr. Elizabeth "Betty" Director. "In this case, they need to be deceiving. We felt that hiding in plain sight was the best plan. WEE tries an aerial attack, they have to deal with everything coming in and out of Dulles. Ground attack, they'll be stuck in traffic and stand a good shot at getting lost along the way."

"Anyway, looks like a nice place so far, but let's see the important parts of campus."

"The food court will have to wait, Ron," said Kim.

"Actually it won't," snapped Will Du. "I didn't have a chance to get lunch, was too busy waiting in a parking lot for certain other parties..."

"Well, you could have grabbed something while you were at Smarty Mart."

"_You _could have approved a timetable for transport of the subjects that would allow such a thing and you could address me in a more professional manner, Miss...Betty...some sort of reference to your..." Kim and Ron decided that they would let GJ internal affairs stay internal while they still could.

"So, um, do you think this means my college sitch has been resolved?"

"If it isn't, I'm not sure I'd stop you from putting in an application with Gemini."

"Been there, done that, not my kind of boss," replied Ron.

"What is your kind of boss?" asked Kim, who already had a pretty good idea of what Ron would say.

"Oh, I'd say about your height, green eyes, kind of darker red hair, good in..."

"OK, Ron, I get the idea."

"You had the idea when you asked me the question." Kim just sort of shrugged, then the two of them returned to see if Dr. Director and her number one agent had come to an agreement. Apparently they had, or at they had tired of arguing.

"Let us continue the baby grand tour," said Betty. She led Kim and Ron down a nondescript corridor and into a nearly empty lecture hall. "We don't have nearly as many students on campus during the summer as we do during the school year."

"So, aside from not looking the part, this Global Justice Academy is pretty much your basic average college?" Ron sought clarification but was greeted with contradiction.

"Not even close." Will led the tour group to another door. This one appeared to have a rubber floor mat in front of it. "This is a new type of lock we're working on. Many students here help with our inventions. For example, this door can only be opened by a precise pattern of steps on this space. Let me see if I remember the proper code...a jump to the left, and then a step to the right?" Nothing happened for a second, then an agent burst through the doors, allowing Dr. Director to hold the door open for Kim, Ron and Will."

"It's probably best that they not know all the codes just yet," Will told Dr. Director. Kim just rolled her eyes at this comment.

"You're not about to go on a huge 'amateur' kick, are you?" Kim asked Agent Du, immediately slapping her hand over her mouth. "I _so_ didn't mean to say that out loud," she added sheepishly.

"No big, it's just that you haven't accepted our offer yet, and truth be told, prospective students don't typically receive this sort of access."

"Well, 'prospective student' is certainly an improvement over 'amateur,' at least in the sense you were using it."

"I've grown up since then. I hope that you have done so as well." Ron was about to bring up his actions against the Lorwardians and possibly his reduced loss of pants, but he was distracted by his surroundings. It soon became clear why one would restrict access to this particular room. Television monitors covered three of the walls from floor to ceiling, with the fourth wall only interrupted by the door through which they had entered. About a dozen very young agents (Kim thought they could even be students) were at a series of desks in the center of the room, monitoring the feeds.

"Super Bowl party here, anyone?" Ron didn't get much of a reaction from anyone.

"Tempting, but no. Although on the day of, we will have a number of angles of the game. It's kind of a big deal, security-wise. And in case you were wondering, yes, these are students, it's part of the curriculum here. Now, let's move on to housing."

Kim, Ron, Will and Betty left the building and boarded another van. They drove under a main highway and were soon in a subdivision full of McMansions.

"Oh, I see what you did there. Sticking with the whole 'hiding in plain sight' thing again. Nice."

"Yes, we could have built dorms on the actual campus, but we didn't." Will pulled out a card and swiped it in a reader on one of the house's doors. They stepped inside while Agent Du continued his spiel. "As Mr. Stoppable guessed, we are hiding in plain sight. A subdivision next to an office park in Northern Virginia; there are hundreds of both of them. Supervillains, unless they have a vendetta against Global Justice for some reason...I mean, if they're too lazy to build their own doomsday machines, they are not going to spend three hours burning gas trying to find these places."

"Then why don't they just try to fry the whole area?" asked Ron.

"Firstly," said Betty, "they do. Although their main target is about thirty miles east and a little south of here."

"But couldn't you have issues with Global Justice agents going rogue, kind of filling them in on where this place is?" Kim asked, looking around the somewhat spare living quarters.

"That is why we didn't tell you where we were going, why pretty much every mode of transport in and out of here has darkened windows, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Even your own technical support staff would take a while to find us."

"So, to recap: no one outside of GJ knows that this place is here and you've made it too much trouble for anyone to try to find out where it is."

"We hope you're right on both accounts, Miss Possible," said Will with uncharacteristic modesty. Just then, Dr. Director's phone began to vibrate.

"Yes? We were just about to finish up. They'll be here in about an hour? We will see them then," Dr. Director then led the others back outside where they drove back over to campus.

"Ron, Will, you two go ahead and grab some lunch. Kim, you come with me. We'll meet in my office in a little over an hour." The party split, and Will and Ron went off to the dining hall. Will stopped by a kiosk labeled "Bild-a-burger," while Ron hit the nacho bar.

"Rufus, buddy, wake up. This is the moment of truth. Can an shadowy international spy agency successfully duplicate the sublime power of the Naco?" Ron began to assemble his lucrative creation while Rufus carefully sampled the various ingredients. First came the seasoned ground beef.

"Hmm, spicier," said Rufus.

"Is that a 'good' spicier or a 'bad' spicier?" Rufus thought for a second, then just shrugged his shoulders. Next came the all-important cheese. Rufus lowered a straw into the chafing dish and drew out a healthy portion of the viscous yellow-orange liquid. The naked mole rat had rarely met a cheese he didn't like, and that wasn't happening here.

"Cheese!" proclaimed the rodent. Ron added a healthy portion to his ersatz Naco. Upon completion, he found his way to the table where Will had just begun to consume a rather large burger of his own design and construction. Several times, each of them tried to begin a conversation in between bites, but the right combination of both of them not eating or drinking never arose. By the time they had both finished, they still had plenty of time to discuss any sort of business that they didn't want the women to hear.

"So, anyway, about the housing..." Ron asked Will.

"No, you and Kim won't be at the same house." Will anticipated Ron's question. "You'll be sharing whichever house you end up in with three other male students. Your housemates will be randomly assigned, as will the location. If necessary, Miss Possible probably will be able to switch with another female student to end up reasonably close to your house, maybe even next door. If you decide to come here, we go over a lot more of the nuts and bolts at orientation."

"When's that?"

"In about 3 weeks. You will also be setting up your class schedule, your cover job..."

"Isn't there a Smarty Mart around here?"

"The closest one is in Sterling. You would have seen it had we let you look outside on the way here. The nearest Bueno Nacho is across the parking lot."

"So, about half a mile away?"

"Give or take a furlong."

"Now, in terms of classes, what sort of things will Kim and I be taking this semester? Nuclear Meltdown Aversion? Infiltration 101?" Will suppressed a laugh or two upon hearing Ron's ideas about the classes."

"Hardly. The first semester is almost all core classes. You'll probably have some English, history, psychology, some sort of science and/or math. Oh, and Introduction to Global Justice. I'm one of the assistants for that class."

"I figured that would be a little bit beneath 'Global Justice's top agent,' or have things changed since we last met?"

"If things hadn't changed, you wouldn't be here."

"Why _am_ I here?"

"The short answer is currently meeting with my boss." Ron wasn't exactly sure what Will was getting at, but once he got an idea, he seemed a bit downcast.

"Oh, so I'm only being considered so that Kim will come here too," said Ron, who was slowly growing angrier, "and it was you that sent all my applications to who-knows-where, dammit!"

"We did not redirect your applications...dammit," retorted Agent Du in an annoyingly deadpan voice, "but the first of your conclusions is true to an extent. We did not feel that Kim would accept our offer without your presence..."

"You keep talking about an offer. What exactly is this 'offer,' anyway? And if you didn't shove my college applications where the sun won't shine on them, who did?"

"We will explain once we get in touch with your parents, and we are still looking into what happened with all your incoming and outgoing correspondence. Miss Possible has had someone you're familiar with looking into it for a while; he's still working on it, and we're no closer."

* * *

In an office just outside downtown Middleton, several recent high school graduates were awaiting a job interview. First came a young woman with long blond hair. She sat down at a table with a middle-aged man in a suit. He had a patch over one eye, and he kept one of his hands out of view of the applicant.

"It says here you were the 'director of intrasquad relations' with the Middleton High School cheerleading squad. Care to elaborate?"

"Well, " said Tara. "We were very lucky on the squad in that we had two visionaries, Kim and Bonnie, they're like poets, like Shelley and Byron. They're two distinct types of visionaries, it's like fire and ice, basically. I feel my role on the squad was to be somewhere in the middle of that, kind of like lukewarm water."

"So you basically mediated disputes between other cheerleaders? How do you feel that would..." The man trailed off as Tara leaned forward a bit. The "businessman's" eyes drifted downward while Tara changed her tone of voice ever so slightly.

"You know, you really haven't told me what this job entails. Besides, one of the things my guidance counselor told me was to maintain eye contact in interviews, and you're making that difficult."

"And I must confess, you're making it hard for me,"

"I can imagine so," said Tara, discreetly taking a picture of her interviewer with her phone. "I think we've had a good interview, I have your card and my contact info is on the application." As she left the room, another recent high school graduate prepared to enter.

"I was kind of spying on your interview," said Ron Rieger. "Now I know how to get a reaction out of him."

"Spying always was one of your strong suits, wasn't it?" Tara immediately fired off a text to Kim and a copy of the picture she had taken a few minutes before then.

"I've got to watch this," said Josh Mankey, one of the few "candidates" who already had a year of college in the books. A few minutes later, an obviously disturbed man stormed out of the room, muttering something about needing a chemical shower. Then his phone rang.

"What the hell do you want? How do you think it went? OK, I'm sorry. Sorry that your 'Operation Find Dirt on Kim Possible' was a damn waste of time and money! The second I get back to WEE headquarters, we are going to have a little sit-down, just me and you, Agent Epsilon...and maybe Agent Zeta will stop by too. He'll know why."

* * *

The Possibles and the Stoppables were in Mr. Dr. Possible's office per Dr. Director's instructions. Will pressed a button, and he, Kim, Ron and Betty appeared on the rocket scientist's 60-inch anniversary present.

"Ronald! Take it!" said his father.

"I don't even know exactly what 'it' is," said Ronald. "Wait, is this another of those 'this is our way of telling you' things?"

"I'm sorry, Ron," said Betty. "I wanted to let your parents see the expression on your face when I tell you that we want you as a student here, on a full ride, with Miss Possible." Ron's parents were not rewarded as Dr. Director had hoped; Ron seemed pleased at the news, but his reaction was somewhat muted."

"So, you told them before you told me?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time. You're not reconsidering, are you?"

"So, what's in it for you and Global Justice?" asked Ron. Agent Du fielded this question.

"Miss Possible, Mr. Stoppable, should you choose to accept our offer of a most-expenses-paid college education, you will be working for us while you are here and for four years afterward. Your independent work may still continue, provided you can keep up with our demands. We are a bit more demanding than your basic average college. Take as much or as little time as you need to make your final decision." Will and Betty left the Possibles and Stoppables alone to make their decision.

"Well, the price is certainly right," said the rocket scientist.

"Says Dr. 'I frolicked everywhere today after I discovered our new house was paid for,'" the brain surgeon retorted. "Kimmie, money isn't everything."

"But Ron is," Kim replied, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend of just over a year. "This may be the only chance for us to go anywhere together, and for him to go anywhere period. We are doing this." Kim and Ron knocked on the door of the office, and Will and Betty came back inside.

"We're in."

* * *

AN: This chapter took a good deal longer than I had expected. I do have a decent idea about where this particular story is going, and look for many more characters from the show to make appearances. Thank you for reading and reviewing, comments will probably receive replies.


	3. Chapter 3

"So this is how it's going to be every time we leave here or come back?" Kim and Ron were riding in a Global Justice van down a tunnel for what had to have been at least 5 or 6 miles.

"Yes, but the condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance," said Agent Du.

"I know Barkin used that a couple of times, but I don't remember who said that," said Ron.

"You know, I don't remember either," said Will. He then consulted the person in the front passenger seat; "Betty, who said that?"

"I'm going to have to look it up, maybe when we're somewhere I can get better reception. You know, when you say 'every time we leave here or come back,' how many times were you thinking that would be happening?"

"I don't know," said Kim.

"We don't know exactly, either. You see, your education won't necessarily stop when your classes stop. If we need you with us over Christmas, you will be with us over Christmas. If we need you in Siberia for spring break...well, you get the picture. Like I said earlier today, you two will be able to continue your independent work here, but at the same time you will be responsible for everything and anything we can and will throw at you. Oh, and your ride back to Middleton is here."

"Where?" asked Ron.

"We just boarded." While Kim and Ron were engrossed in conversation, it had been driven aboard a cargo plane. The engines roared to life, and the plane began to accelerate down the runway.

"Finally, something to look at other than the inside of a tunnel," said Ron.

"Yeah, the inside of a plane is _so_ much more interesting," replied Kim. "Hang on, I got a message from Tara."

"Recognize him?" read the message. Kim opened the attachment, and yes, she did recognize Gemini. "Betty, your brother was in Middleton today."

"Oh, whenever he does anything wrong, he's _my_ brother," huffed Dr. Director in mock indignation. "If you wouldn't mind gathering a bit more information in a relaxed presence, perhaps with other female acquaintances, that would be most advisable."

"So you're basically ordering Kim to have a girls' night out?" asked Ron.

"Precisely."

"Well, what am I going to do tonight?"

"The same thing you do every night..." Will Du began before he was cut off.

"Not _every_ night," retorted Ron desperately.

"No, I mean, just...be available for whatever Kim wants or needs. It's worked for you for a while now and it will have to work for you in the future."

* * *

Kim met Monique, who was just getting off her shift at Club Banana, and Tara at the Middleton Mall food court. Monique decided against demanding that Kim divulge any events of the day, seeing as there was a good possibility that at least some of it would be classified. Only Kim knew the real reason for this evening out, but eventually, the subject of their conversation turned to Tara's "job interview."

"What do you mean, you did what you thought Bonnie would do in the same sitch?" Monique asked, although she had a pretty good idea of the answer.

"What do you think I meant by that?" Kim and Monique (correctly) divined that Tara was asking a rhetorical question, so they let that aspect of the day's events slide by the wayside. "After that, he seemed a bit incoherent. But before that, it was like he was more interested in you than me."

"And after that, well, I'm thinking he could have used a chemical shower."

"Well, seeing as the next applicant was Ron Rieger..." Again, Tara had provided enough information that Kim and Monique could fill in the blanks.

"There is a perfectly logical explanation for the way everything went down. You see, Tara, the man with whom you had that interview is Sheldon Director," said Kim.

"That's not the name he gave me..." interrupted Tara.

"Ooh, a villain who uses a fake name; I am shocked, _shocked_..." added Monique. Kim continued with her briefing.

"Anyway, he is the leader of the Worldwide Evil Empire, and his twin sister is the head of Global Justice. They run an academy where they train their agents, and they want Ron and I to go there." At this Tara and Monique lit up.

"So, not only is Ron's college sitch resolved, you get to spend the next four years with him?" Monique practically squealed.

"In essence, yes...that being said, you are not allowed to make that noise again until such time as I deem appropriate, upon pain of something I will come up with in the meantime." Kim said, settling Tara and Monique down. "If you'll excuse me, I need to visit the little future agent's room. She walked towards the restrooms adjacent to the food court, then, after noticing that her Kimmunicator watch was beeping in a rhythm slightly different from the traditional "ringtone," abruptly cut down an adjacent corridor, through a door marked "Authorized Personnel Only."

"Girl, I think we just got ditched," said Monique after she realized what had happened.

"That ditcher!" yelled Tara, a bit louder than she intended, but not really loud enough for anyone to pay attention.

* * *

"Miss Possible, were you able to gather anything useful?" asked Dr. Director.

"Not too much. I do have the business card Gemini gave Tara." Kim held the card up where Betty could see it. She perused the card with her one good eye.

"My God," Dr. Director half-gasped with a mix of revulsion and anger.

"What is it?"

"Comic Sans on a business card? And what's the deal with the gradient in the background?"

Kim was both aghast and amused. It was unlike Dr. Director to trivialize any sort of threat, even one as hard to take seriously as Gemini could be at times. If anyone at Global Justice needed to lighten up, it was Will Du, and based on what Ron told Kim about his time with the "number one" agent, it looked like there was hope, but she needed to see more.

"But anyway, dispensing with my brother's graphic design shortcomings, the card does have one of several of his assumed names on it. I'll have everyone up here see if they get any hits on the name. If he's booked any flight or hotel rooms under that name, we'll know."

"Please and thank you. Oh, and could you send any of his other names to Wade. I'm sure he'll find a trail of sorts." Kim emerged to find herself before a glowering Tara, and Monique didn't seem too thrilled with the latest turn of events either.

"Kim! This is why we can't do nice things!"

"You know, I do not intend to find out what happens when one ignores calls from the director of Global Justice. Besides, it's not like this is the first time I've been pulled from what I want to be doing so I do what I need to be doing."

"True, but...um..." When Kim put things in that context, it was hard to stay mad at her. In addition, it was the first time the three of them had much time to just hang out. It was an especially good thing for Tara to be out, seeing as most of her usual crowd had gone elsewhere for the summer, or in the case of Bonnie, were spending all their time stuck in summer school or doing things with her "heir-head" boyfriend, as Tara called Señor Senior, Jr. All of them had come into money lately, although only Monique had done so directly, through a raise and plenty of overtime from Club Banana. The other two had merely had impending burdens lifted, Tara having earned a near-full ride to the University of Upperton and Kim with her parents no longer needing to pay to build a new house, not to mention her own full ride. Monique then made a command decision based on inside information gleaned from a managerial conference call.

"The Club Banana in Upperton just got a new shipment intended for the Country Club Banana in Miami. It will be sent there tomorrow morning. If we leave now, we can make the shipment a bit lighter."

"I like the way you think, Monique," said Kim.

* * *

Steve Barkin was having a nice, quiet evening at home. An old friend, Dr. John Rodgers, had stopped by and the two of them had just opened an 18-year-old single malt scotch. As they enjoyed the spirits, the conversation turned towards a couple of Barkin's old acquaintances.

"I understand you're sending me two of your students. I'd say it's about time."

"I don't know what you're talking about, John," said Mr. Barkin to the slightly older gentleman in his living room.

"I just received word from my boss that Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable will be attending the academy this fall. I look forward to working with both of them." At this, Barkin nearly choked on his drink.

"Ron. Stoppable. You actually admitted Ron Stoppable. Dr. Rodgers, are you OUT OF YOUR MIND?"

"The decision was pretty much Betty's, but I agree with it. Maximizes the utilization of one of Global Justice's key assets. But seriously, you have to let it go with Stoppable. All that for a funny look...really?" Barkin was surprised that Dr. Rodgers chose to go most harshly on his treatment of Stoppable, and not a more recent incident, one involving someone Dr. Rodgers had known once upon a time.

"Yes, I know, I know. It's hardly news that you disapprove of my methods, especially how I handled what happened at graduation." When John had heard about how Steve had dealt with Bonnie playing hooky one morning, the two of them had a rather heated discussion. The professor, while believing that Bonnie needed to have a significant attitude adjustment, had insisted that Barkin had erred by waiting until the actual ceremony to announce his decision; he felt that humiliating Bonnie in front of the assembled masses was going too far and invited the possibility of significant blowback, while Barkin insisted that it was the only was to make up for how she had treated so many people for so many years.

"You know, there was one thing you once told me that really says a lot about what you think of your students; 'Detention. It's a great way to get to know the students without having to actually talk to them.' Speaks volumes."

"Don't tell me you're going to go soft on Stoppable."

"Far from it. But I am going to go reasonable on him, something you never did seem to figure out how to do." The high school principal had no response, but the professor sensed that Barkin was growing less and less comfortable with being in the same house, let alone the same room. "I guess I'll just show myself out then. Remember what we talked about."

Dr. Rodgers walked back out to his car, and pulled out a scrap of paper with an address on it. He looked at it for a few minutes, then decided against taking the short walk to visit another old acquaintance. She probably wasn't home anyway. He then stepped back inside Barkin's house. Perhaps it was the scotch, or maybe something else, but Barkin allowed him back inside and the two of them carried on as though the awkward moment had never happened.

* * *

Sheldon Director, Esquire, paced back and forth in his office. Pepe lay on a chair, watching him like he was watching a tennis match, poised to burst into a barking frenzy if the two magic words were spoken. The man who called himself Gemini racked his mind looking for a way to use Kim Possible to bring down his little sister and her organization once and for all. Suddenly a light seemed to come on over his head.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know anyone was in here," said Agent Chi. He was on janitorial duty this week. "So, um, do you prefer to think in the dark?"

"Yes, yes I do. Now, run along, unless you'd like to have a nice...sit-down." Agent Chi had only been with the organization for a month, but he had already learned what that meant.

Left alone with his thoughts and his dog, a combination of his past experiences and his present reading habits coalesced into what he thought was a coherent plan of action. Specifically, his previous attempts to use Ron Stoppable, and the autobiography of Señor Senior, Sr. He realized that much as Ron Stoppable inspired the billionaire's life of evil, he could also inspire someone within the Global Justice Academy to ruin Betty and leave a void which the Worldwide Evil Empire would fill. The only problem was that Ron recognized him. The only other problem was that wherever Ron Stoppable was, Kim Possible was sure to follow, except for the men's room, and that was no place to strike up a conversation. He was about to dismiss the idea entirely when his phone began to ring.

"Yes? Agent Delta, good to hear from you. Okay, let's get down to brass tacks. You said that you had a proposal for a new operation?" Gemini listened to Delta give a very brief synopsis of his plan. He furrowed his brow slightly; this was practically the same plan that the former Agent Gamma had proposed about a month before, and it was in the process of collapsing like a souffle. However, it was different enough, simple enough and cheap enough that Gemini agreed to allow him to discuss the plan further in person. He knew that his sister's organization could soon catch up with him if he had much of an electronic presence, so keeping as much of the plan out of the electronic realm was a wise course of action.

* * *

Ron planned to drop by the Possible residence about twenty minutes after the time he had guessed that Kim would need help hauling in that evening's (Club) banana harvest. Unfortunately, he was spotted en route by Kim, Tara and Monique, and when Kim pulled over, things went from bad to worse.

"Ron, you suppose you could help us bring a few things in?" asked Monique. He was then hit with a triple-barreled Puppy Dog Pout™, and from there, he was a lost cause. The first stop was at Tara's house. Having emerged from the Lorwardian attack by and large unscathed, Tara had enough for four people to carry; well, either four people or one Ron. He emerged from the house freed from this burden with the three young women after a few minutes of indecision in regards to where to put everything. On their way to the second stop, Kim whispered into Ron's ear,

"Trust me, I'll make it worth the effort." Much the same thing occurred when they dropped off Monique and her spoils.

Kim and Ron arrived at their final destination for the evening. The Tweebs were there to greet them, although their expressions fell when they saw the way Kim and Ron were looking at each other.

"No." said Tim bluntly.

"What, I'm just going to be chilling with KP,"

"Sure, for now..."

"But after that..."

"What do think..." Kim and Ron soon realized what Jim and Tim, and probably Kim's parents thought the two of them would be be doing; they chose not to dignify their implications with a response.

"Why don't we just get away from prying eyes for a little while, Ron?" Kim suggested and they went upstairs, although the Tweebs did get in the last word.

"We swear..." Kim and Ron didn't let the Tweebs finish their threat, but they were too tired for what the Tweebs and pretty much everyone else thought they'd be doing anyway.

* * *

From ye author: Submitted for your approval, the product of 10-15 minutes every few days, scattered throughout two and a half months among 55-hour workweeks, nephew-sitting, and having to share this computer with several other people. Here's hoping I can put together a more timely and coherent effort next time around...I once again thank everyone who reads this.


	4. Chapter 4

"I must confess, I never expected that getting to orientation would involve this many steps. I mean, are you sure Will Du isn't just having fun at our expense?" Ron asked Kim as the two of them trekked through the labyrinthine and odoriferous passages composing the long-abandoned Underground Middleton project.

"Will Du? Having fun? You do realize what you just said, right?"

"Yes I did, and up until I found out where I was going to college, I wouldn't have believed me either. By the way, could I see the map, KP?" Kim obliged, and Ron and Rufus perused the map to little avail. "Um, where are we?"

"Here," said KP, pointing to a likely looking spot on the map. "And the rendezvous point is..." Kim was interrupted by the sound of an engine increasing in proximity and volume. The faint light from the Kimmunicator was enough for the trio to make out the source of the sound. An ATV with two men on it came to a stop not too far away from them.

"So, the boss said the cache was right here. Looks like they just redid the masonry down here. It's a shame we'll have to blow it apart."

"I'm afraid the masonry will live to see another day." One of the men shined his flashlight on Kim Possible. He paused for a moment, then smirked as he tossed a duffel bag to Kim.

"And you won't," the man sneered. Kim opened the duffel bag to reveal an old 1980s-style boom box. Kim, presuming a bomb was inside, frantically threw the boom box as far down the corridor while she and Ron took off as fast as possible in the opposite direction. The two of them dropped to the ground, their running turning to tumbling; it was as though they couldn't make their minds up regarding who was shielding whom from the blast. After what felt like an eternity waiting for the bomb to go off, they heard a loud, decidedly non-explosive crunching noise coming from where the boom box had come to a rest. Ron looked and saw the other man from the ATV, standing over the remains of the obsolete electronics and wielding a sledgehammer. Rufus was the first to approach the men, who were now talking.

"Man, did you really need to smash it like that? I mean, couldn't you have just taken it apart?"

"Yeah, but sometimes you just need to take a sledgehammer to your obstacles. Ah, here it is." The man shined his flashlight on a key. There was just enough light for Rufus to make out the insignia on his uniform. The naked mole rat returned to the incoming freshmen.

"All clear! GJ!" he told the two of them. They had not encountered henchmen, they had encountered Global Justice agents.

"Man, I hope this won't be a graded assignment," muttered Ron.

"Hardly," said one of the agents, now holding the key that had been concealed in the "boom box." He inserted the key into a well-concealed hole in the "concrete," then, using the key as a handle, pulled open the panel, which was merely gray plastic. Behind the door was a short passage leading to a round hole.

"Sweet, you got the tubes fixed!" said Ron.

"Some of them, anyway. After you, Miss Possible and, um, the other guy."

"Hello, Ron Stoppable, not that hard of a name."

"Sorry about that. I was not given your name in my briefing." The four of them jumped into the tubes one right after the other. They arrived at a what looked like a command center of some kind, where they met with a couple more Global Justice agents.

"Miss Possible, I am Senior Agent Orange, and this is Agent Johnson. You have already met Agents Black and Decker. Please refrain from defoliant and tool-related jokes, we've heard all the good ones already. We will be transporting you to orientation at the Global Justice Academy."

"This seems like an awful lot of trouble to go to just for orientation."

"The more time you spend here, the more you will understand our security measures. Come now, time is of the essence."

* * *

Given the number and size of the tables in the ballroom, Kim and Ron guessed the freshman class would be about the size of Middleton High School's total enrollment and that their future housemates would be seated with them. Before they sat down at their assigned seats a few tables apart, they looked over the schedule for orientation weekend together.

"Biometrics?"

"I'm guessing a lot of the more secure rooms may have, like, iris scans or stuff like that."

"Not looking forward to this," said Ron, pointing to one item on his agenda that was conspicuously absent from Kim's.

"Yeah, that doesn't look too fun, but it looks like it's only about an hour. My dad had to go through that sort of thing a lot, especially after they hired Dr. Porter." Soon, the seats began to fill around Kim and Ron. It looked like there were slightly more male than female students. At what seemed like the last possible moment, the remaining seats at Kim's and Ron's tables filled, but no one was able to introduce himself or herself before the lights began to dim. An agent stepped to the lectern on the stage at the front of the room. Ron braced for feedback, but there was none.

"Welcome to the newest class of Global Justice Academy. As you will discover over the course of this weekend, keeping the world safe is serious business. On the other hand, here's a little bit about our next speaker." A video began to play on a couple of screens. An agent who looked a bit like a young Steve Barkin was in Dr. Director's office. A beat was playing in the background.

"So, you're in charge around here, is that fair to say?" asked the agent.

"Absolutely," said the one-eyed woman. "I'm the boss."

"Okay, so take us through a day in the life of 'the boss.'"

"Well, the first thing I do is...

Talk to Congress...LIKE A BOSS

Approve directives...LIKE A BOSS

Lead a conference...LIKE A BOSS

State Dinners...LIKE A BOSS

Direct logistics...LIKE A BOSS

Private quarters...LIKE A BOSS

Win a turf war...LIKE A BOSS

Promote unity...LIKE A BOSS

Order pizza...LIKE A BOSS

Set up roadblocks...LIKE A BOSS

Takes an hour...LIKE A BOSS

So it's free...LIKE A BOSS

Call the U.N...LIKE A BOSS

Fridge running?...LIKE A BOSS

Better catch it...LIKE A BOSS

Number blocked...LIKE A BOSS

Break into the U.N...LIKE A BOSS

Set off the alarm...LIKE A BOSS

Get caught...LIKE A BOSS

Flash the guards...LIKE A BOSS

Escape through the vents...LIKE A BOSS

End in an alley...LIKE A BOSS

Shoot a hobo...LIKE A BOSS

Call an airstrike...LIKE A BOSS

Level New York...LIKE A BOSS."

The agent seemed flustered. "So, that's an average day then?"

"No doubt."

"You have New York bombed with you in it?"

"Hell yeah."

"And I think at one point there you said something about flashing people?"

Dr. Director paused for a second. "Nope."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure you did."

"Nah, that ain't me."

"OK, well this has been eye-opening for me."

"I'm the boss."

"Yeah. I know. I got that. You said that four hundred times."

"I'm the boss." Clearly appearing more annoyed, the agent began to get up and leave.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it."

"I'm the boss."

"Great. I heard you. Bye."

At the moment the rather derivative introductory film ended, a spotlight illuminated a portion of stage right and the woman in its path, one Elizabeth Director, Ph. D. The assembled students immediately rose to their feet applauding furiously. She made her way to center stage.

"Thank you for the welcome. Incidentally, because of that welcome, we are now behind schedule." A few laughs emanated from the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, you have been chosen to take on an often thankless task. Your greatest and most difficult successes will almost certainly swept under the rug, whereas your failures, and you will have them, will be broadcast around the world, along with your faces. Some of you may realize this..." As Dr. Director said that last sentence, it was as though half of the room glared in the general direction of Kim and Ron.

* * *

"Has anyone noticed anything yet?" asked Agent Zeta.

"It does not appear that way. By the way, do you think they're real?" asked Agent Rho, who was ogling/observing his boss' arch-nemesis.

"Stay on task, Mr. P."

"It's Rho, dammit! The Greek equivalent of R!"

"Actually, I meant for the P to stand for pervert, you horndog!"

"I'll bet you're..."

"Agent Zeta!" Gemini had just entered the room. Agent Rho hoped that his boss hadn't overheard his little remark about his sister's generous endowment. Fortunately for him, he had not. "Where is our status?"

"The plant seems to be taking root,"

"Z, I don't speak metaphor. Please rephrase your answer." Zeta grew a bit snippy at this.

"Well, the person we hired to infiltrate the Global Justice Academy is not raising suspicion."

"Grood. I mean, good. And great. Let's keep things that way." He knew he was taking a big chance, but it was also certain that bringing his sister down would require rolling the dice more than a few times and having his number come up each and every time. Kim Possible and that other guy (he had made it a point to forget his name) were coming up far too often. The one-eyed older brother of the director of Global Justice had covered everything from his end. Agent Phi could pass for eighteen, but had been working for an offshoot of WEE with no connection to the evil organization except for Gemini himself for the past five years. For all he knew, he was one of the good guys, sent to hone his skills at the Global Justice Academy. Gemini had concocted a lie that he would fully disclose to his agent at the appropriate time, but that time wasn't now.

* * *

The lights came up as Dr. Director finished her address to the newest group to matriculate at the Global Justice Academy. Kim and Ron finally got around to introducing themselves to the others at their respective tables.

Kimberly Anne Possible was not particularly particular about on which continent she would attend college; she was hoping for somewhere a bit more exotic than somewhere near Chantilly, Virginia. So it was more than a little consolation that the three other young women at her table were all from different countries. There was Marina, from Russia. She seemed a little Bonnie-like at first, but after Kim got a chance to really talk to her, she knew that she was even more Bonnie-like than Bonnie herself. If Kim had a nickel for every time Marina mentioned that her father was ex-KGB, she probably could have Grande-sized the last time she went to Bueno Nacho. Not that she would have, but still. Vicki, from Australia, was a lot more subdued, more...not Bonnie. Nonetheless, something about her suggested that she would be the greatest threat on the Ron front. Rounding out the foursome was Andrea, from Scotland. They didn't get much of a chance to talk, but the first impression Kim got from her was that of being, well, a lot like herself and not necessarily in a good way.

Ron Stoppable's future roommates were not as widely distributed in terms of their nation of origin. In fact, the three of them had all gone to high school in Texas. Jacob said he was from near Fort Hood, that his father was retired from the Army and that he had originally wanted him to go to West Point, but this was close enough for him. Will was from around Austin and seemed _very_ interested in Kim. Ron tried to change the subject repeatedly, first to Rufus, then to the Fearless Ferret, then to Agony County, but somehow everything was still about Kim. Dustin said he was originally from Minnesota and sounded every bit of it. For him, Houston was a major adjustment in all kinds of ways. He seemed the most Ron-like, especially in his professed affection for Bueno Nacho.

As the new students began to head to for the exits, Kim and Ron had one last chance to see each other for the next few hours. They introduced each other's roommates to one another, then after a quick kiss went their separate ways. Kim and about 50 other freshwomen went off to be fingerprinted, have their irises scanned into the Global Justice database (Kim noticed Marina removing her color contacts) and other biometric information taken. Marina noticed that Kim knew her "secret" and made a few more not-too-subtle threats involving umbrellas and ricin. Kim hoped she could laugh them off once she got to know Miss Myshkina better.

A little while later, Ron's similarly-sized group gathered in a small lecture hall.

"All right people, listen up!" bellowed a middle-aged woman.

"Barkin in drag?" thought Ron momentarily before the woman continued. "As you could tell at the convocation, Global Justice is diverse racially, religiously and gender...ally."

"Is that even a word?" whispered Dustin.

"As such, we feel it is important that you be educated in how to deal and not deal with the opposite sex."

"Dude," said Will to Ron, "you don't need to be here. Kim keeps you in line, am I right?" Jacob replied with a sound like an angry cat, followed by the sound of a cracking whip. In spite of his intentions, those sound effects did draw the attention of the agent at the front of the room.

"This is precisely the sort of behavior that is unacceptable here at the Academy and out in the field. Perhaps this short video will enlighten you." The lights dimmed and a video with what appeared to be vintage early 1990s bumpers and visual effects began. "It may look a little dated, but it was actually shot maybe three or four years ago." It began with Will Du walking up rather lecherously to Dr. Director, seated at a very cheap-looking desk.

"So, Dr. D, I heard you just bought a new car. Want to break in the back seat?"

"Agent, what is the meaning of this?"

"Your lips say no, but your breasts say, 'Motorboat us, please.'" The agent paused the video.

"Okay, now what are some things wrong with this scenario? How about you?" She pointed towards Ron.

"Um, Global Justice would have never admitted someone with that attitude?"

"We would like to think so. Anyone else?"

"That you think that we don't know that his actions were inappropriate," Jacob chimed in. "By the way, you never did tell us who you were." The agent frowned for a second, and a few of their students braced for an outburst...that never came.

"I'll address the second part of your statement first. I am Agent Stevens, and I am one of the assistant professors here. And secondly, that thing you said earlier indicates how far we've come. There was a time when that sort of thing was permissible, when we did actually have to tell our agents that propositioning co-workers..." Stevens continued with the usual platitudes that accompanied any other discussion of workplace sexual harassment while most of the group dozed off.

* * *

Kim and her housemates joined Ron and his housemates for dinner after a long day of seminars, presentations and a whole lot of walking. The females had all built up relatively healthy plates, which the males more than compensated for. Being the only one with a girlfriend, Ron seemed to be the only one of the four who faced criticism for his dietary propensities. Ron was finally able to steer the conversation away from the pile of fried food on his plate.

"So, anyway, Vicki, you sounded like you were from somewhere that put random extra vowels in words?"

"Um, no. Americans take random vowels out of words." On this point, Andrea nodded.

"Never mind. Anyway, I was wondering exactly how cricket works."

"It's simple, really. You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out. When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game." Once Ron's head stopped spinning, his attention returned to his girlfriend.

"So, KP, where are we in terms of the housing sitch?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Kim, Ron and the other incoming cadets had received their housing assignments.

"Let's tell each other at the same time." Marina rolled her eyed at this sickening display of affection and took preemptive action.

"We're at 290 Bermuda Drive," said the brown-eyed Russian, now re-inserting her blue contacts. Ron tried to be not too fazed by this.

"292 Bent Court," said Dustin. Kim checked the provided map and found that the houses appeared to be fairly close, a little closer than their houses back in Middleton. Notably, the map didn't appear to show any roads leading into or out of the subdivision, nor did it have any perspective in terms of where it was in relation to anything, really.

"Now, if what half of Kim here is saying about your cooking is true..." Andrea appeared to be giving Ron an ultimatum when he was saved by the Kimmunicator.

"What up, Wade?"

"Ron, we have a hit on Kim's site." Just then, Will Du himself came up to their table.

"Miss Possible, you and Mr. Stoppable have until 8 am tomorrow morning to be back here, otherwise you'll miss class registration. Wade told me the situation."

"And yet he didn't tell me." Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator. "And now I understand why," she said sheepishly as she turned on the device.

_

* * *

Well, the last couple of months were just as bad as when I was trying to write the previous chapter, only I also had writer's block. The next chapter will be just as long in coming, I fear. Review and I shall reply...eventually. Anything that looks like copyright material belongs to the owners thereof._


	5. Chapter 5

"What's the sitch, Wade?"

"Dementor and his henchmen ransacked CERN."

"What's that?" asked Ron.

"The European Council for Nuclear Research," said Kim. "Hey, didn't Wade already fill you in?"

"He just told me we had a mission. And wouldn't the acronym for the place we're going to be pronounced 'eck-nur?'"

"Actually, that's the acronym for the French name of the organization. Not to mention they changed the name so the acronym doesn't really stand for anything anymore in any language."

"Hey Wade! Fewer semantics, more debriefing!" ordered Kim.

"As I told Agent Du, they haven't completed the assessment of what's missing or broken, but they should have it by the time you arrive. Anyway, how has orientation been?"

"Not bad, a little boring," said Kim.

"Says the one who didn't have to sit through a sexual harassment seminar."

"Hey, do well out here, there will be a reward." Kim's left eyebrow rose suggestively.

"OK, KP, you're entering into yellow-light behavior territory...I like it."

"Your reward will be whatever light you want it to be, Ronster." They decided against much The two of them decided they would need some rest. They would be arriving in Switzerland very early in the morning, and, unless they wanted horrific class schedules, would need to be back in Virginia by 8 am local time. Even with the Global Justice supersonic jet transporting them across the pond and back, they would have to foil Dementor without so much as a "so not the drama." A couple hours later, they were awakened by an announcement from the pilot.

"Miss Possible, we just entered French airspace. You and...the other guy will be in Switzerland soon. Our ETA in Geneva is 1:30 Eastern time."

"Thanks for the update." said Kim.

"First of all, I really hope people remember my name before commencement. And second, 1:30?"

"Beats not getting there at all."

"I guess you're right, but I can't imagine that being an issue, seeing as we're going Mach something bigger than one." Suddenly the plane banked and dove sharply, throwing Rufus into the remaining contents of Ron's snackage. He emerged dazed but uninjured.

"Donuts; is there anything they can't do? Told you it was a good idea to stop by Krunchy Kreme before we left."

"Less smugness, more preparedness, Ron!"

"OK, OK." Soon the plane leveled out.

"This is your captain, sorry about the disturbance, but here at Global Justice, we prefer not to have our planes cross paths with R-77s. Our ETA has not changed." Within a half hour, they were on the ground in Geneva. A small black car was waiting for them on the tarmac.

"Miss Possible, thank you for coming on such short notice and at such an hour."

"It's what I do."

"It's a short trip over to CERN. They should have the damage assessment completed by the time we arrive." Kim and Ron's driver was truthful in both parts of his statement. As Kim arrived, she was waved in by a guard who recognized her. She arrived in one of the lab and was told exactly what was missing.

"Nothing was stolen."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing?"

"Are you going to (yawn) be Mr. Annoying Human Echo the entire time we're here?"

"Are you...just kidding, KP. But seriously, they're cutting into our sleepage to ask us to find nothing?"

"It's not about what was taken or not, it's about what Basil Victor Demenz and crew left behind." The guard held up a small disc.

"So that's Dementor's real name," said Kim.

"BVD left a DVD," Ron snickered. "We are _so_ calling him that from now on." No one else was laughing, on the outside at least. They loaded the DVD onto a convenient computer.

"Greetings, agents of organizations who seek to apprehend me. You may be wondering why I have run with the ROUGH SHOES through one of the world's top research facilities and yet stolen NICHTS! Well, not only have I left the lab you are in COMPLETELY IN SHAMBLES, but I have also left the facility in the cross-hairs of my latest weapon! Now, it is customary to make the demands, so...bring the whole complex to the co-ordinates I have written on the DVD or else it shall all be VAPORIZED! Sounds impossible, no? Just one letter off. You will want Kim Possible to help you do this. Her website says she can do anything, and if she wants a hometown after noon today, she will help you help me. Auf Wiedersehen!"

"So, you may understand why we have called you here. Clearly it is not possible to airlift a variety of buildings and machines to the location he has described."

"However, it is possible for us to stop him, rendering such plans unnecessary," retorted Kim confidently.

"We hope you're up to it."

"KP, you're not going to believe this," said Ron. "I entered the co-ordinates into my Kimmunicator and look where BVD is." Kim complied with her boyfriend's requested and was amazed.

* * *

Had the object been over inhabited ground, there would have been dozens of calls to local authorities regarding UFO sightings. That being said, the disc-shaped transport was over the open waters of the Caribbean, out of sight and out of mind for the tinfoil-hat army. Andrew Theodore Phileas Lipsky, better known to the world as either Drew, Drewbie, or Dr. Drakken, was returning to one of many scenes of his past life as a comic-book-type supervillain. His longtime assistant, born Sharon Gorecki, having spent about half her life as hero-turned-villain-turned-? Shego, accompanied him.

"Uh, Dr. D," said Shego, "I guess you forgot to turn off the lights before you got abducted."

"Shego, I've been up for eighteen straight hours. I'm not really in the mood for..." Drakken noticed the lights in his island lair. "Well, _I_ didn't leave the lights on." As they came closer, Shego thought she saw movement within the old lab/residence.

"Maybe neither of us did, but it looks like someone else my be there," said Shego, peering through a set of binoculars. Suddenly, the hovercar accelerated, almost making Shego fly out the back. "Hey, a little warning would be nice!"

"Shego, someone is squatting on my property." He took the binoculars for a closer look. "No, wait. He's not squatting, he's just really short, and is wearing some kind of...no, it can't be." But it was.

"DEMENTOR! And he's flipping us off!" Drakken now had a real sense of purpose as he brought the hovercraft up to its maximum velocity.

"Slow down, you're going to..." Shego noticed the lair approach, then recede as they flew right on by, "overshoot the lair."

"Rrrrrngh!" Drakken grunted, then reversed thrust without warning Shego, or himself for that matter. Inertia took its course, and the two of them found themselves ejected from the craft.

* * *

"Did you see that?" one of Dementor's henchmen asked his boss.

"Ja, and I hope they saw us and our fingers. They will be too busy trying to recuperate from their 'accident' to effectively retaliate in any effective manner."

"What about Kim Possible?"

"What _about _Kim Possible?" Dementor replied mockingly. "She will be the first target of the Annihilation Ray I have mounted atop Mont Blanc."

"But you said something about her hometown?"

"I...was...BLUFFING! The Colorado site is not yet online, but when it is, I can control both rays from here!"

"Okay. But...why here?"

"PAYBACK! Lipsky and Shego; well, actually just Shego, always stealing my inventions. But Lipsky always ordered her to steal from me."

"Herr Doktor, it looks like they're backing up."

"Continue with the flipping off of the adversaries in three, two, one...FIRE!" Another henchman joined the party giving Drakken and Shego one-finger-salutes.

* * *

"Hey, are we going back in time?" Kim asked Wade. They were bound for a familiar island in the Caribbean, back on another supersonic jet. Without a convenient landing site nearby, they were going to have to jump from the plane, ideally after dropping below Mach 1. Ron was never a fan of free falling; he preferred landing at a terminal with a Bueno Nacho inside; such were the sacrifices he made for Kim.

"You know, if you take that out of context, it sounds like something I would say," said Ron.

"To answer your question Kim, yes, your ETA at Drakken's Lair International Airport is before your time of departure, and to address your comment, Ron, that did sound like something you would say."

"Ron, let's focus on cleaning this up in time to avoid a semester of 8 am classes every morning."

"I'm with you on that, KP." Both Ron and Kim wondered whether the slightly more rightful owners of the lair would make an appearance.

* * *

"You know, now I'm starting to regret Shego-proofing the walls to the extent that I did," thought Drakken to himself. There was no way for either of them to enter the lair. Dementor and his henchmen had changed all the security codes, and the structure itself was too sturdy for any weaponry Drakken on Shego had on them, conventional or otherwise. Meanwhile Dementor was still giving them a bird in the hand. "SHEGO! Let me up the stakes here!"

"What? No, you are not going to stoop to their level. You are going to...oh, no." Drakken had not stooped to Dementor's level; he had smashed a hole in the floor and was drilling towards the center of the earth at an absurd rate of speed, stopping only to text the Teutonic terror.

"U heard of Blue Moon of Kentucky?" Dementor had momentarily zoned out, but one look out the window and he wished that had stayed inattentive. Shego averted her eyes as Drakken showed his less professional side to Dementor.

"Dr. D., I am officially no longer involved here. I'm calling Kimmie. She'll clean out the lair. I hope."

* * *

Wade had to filter out a wide variety of hits on Kim Possible's website. Some people clearly had very different ideas about what "I can do anything" entailed. Every now and then, someone would try to attack the site, more out of just being able to say that they did it than with any malice. But even rarer were calls for help from known villains. Granted, Wade wasn't sure what exactly the deal was with Shego, but then again, no one did. So he was a bit startled when he got a request from her for Kim's assistance.

"Hey, nerd!"

"I have a name, you know."

"You've been working with Ron too much. Anyway, we're locked out of our Caribbean lair, and..."

"Already ahead of you. Kim is en route to stop Dementor's half-cocked plan. She should be there soon."

"Oh, OK. You'd better be right about that. Actually, could you go ahead and disable the security system? That would really speed things up."

"Hang on a second...done. He's all yours."

"Thanks. Dr. D, you can put your pants back on."

* * *

The plane bearing Kim and Ron, among others, was on final approach to the drop zone near Drakken's lair. Kim had just begun to make her way towards the side door of the plane when the Kimmunicator went off.

"Go Wade."

"Kim, Drakken and Shego are on the island, and they are not pleased with what Dementor has done to the place. I'll have a GJ boat waiting to pick everyone up and take Dementor, or whatever is left of him, into custody."

"This ought to be fun," thought Kim. "Anything else, Wade?"

"No, nothing that I can think of." Kim and Ron leaped from the plane, and for once Ron landed at the same time as his pants; in fact, they were still on him and not around his ankles. The two of them approached the lair like it was their own house, pausing occasionally to listen for the sounds of conflict from within. Hearing none, they continued towards the main entrance. Just then, Dementor and a couple of henchmen emerged, followed closely by Drakken and Shego, whose hands lit the way. They came closer, and Ron noticed what looked like vines binding Dementor's hands.

"And here's the mop-up crew." Ron took umbrage to Shego's remark.

"Hey..."

"No, seriously, they trashed the place. If you want a ride home, grab a mop."

"Listen, we have to be back at orientation in 2 hours, so...we'll take a rain check on the favor." Shego was about to say no, but Drakken butted in.

"If you're willing to pay interest, then we have a deal. And by interest I mean usury. And by usury, I mean you owe us two favors."

"Sure," Kim yawned, perhaps not quite aware of what she had agreed to. Everyone managed to pile into Drakken's hovercar. It was hard to fit everyone in the craft, but as soon as Shego literally kicked Dementor and his henchmen out somewhere over Florida, where Kim had arranged for a team from Global Justice to be on standby.

"OK, I don't know where exactly this 'Global Justice Academy' is now, so I'll just let you two..."

"Three!" Rufus finally woke up, having slept through much of the evening/morning's action.

"...out somewhere they can find you." Kim and Ron were unceremoniously dropped off at a parking lot for a Metro station.

"Remember, you owe us two favors!" Drakken yelled as the hovercraft took off for parts unknown. Kim checked her watch.

"Well, looks like our schedules have been picked for us," said Ron. "Also, how do we get back to campus and eventually home?" Ron's civilian phone began to vibrate. "Hmm, unknown number. I'd better take this. Hello? Yeah we'll be right down there."

"What was all that then?"

"Will Du. He's in the station and has a couple of Metro passes for us." Kim and Ron met with the agent, who handed them the cards through the turnstiles. He then led them over to the westbound platform.

"Um, if this map is accurate, this is the end of the line."

"Officially, it is accurate. Unofficially..." The train pulled up, letting its last few passengers off. "...get on the train." The three of them climbed into the operator's cabin, and about five minutes later were in a station that looked just like any other in the system, only this one had an escalator leading up to the administration building at the Global Justice Academy. Waiting for them was a tall, gray-haired man wearing sunglasses.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Rodgers. I'll be your advisor here."

"Mine or Ron's?" asked Kim.

"Both, actually," he said after briefly consulting a list he had with him. "In addition, you will both be in my 'Introduction to Global Justice' class. I have your schedules in my office. Follow me." He walked briskly, pausing briefly to address Dr. Director.

"Liz."

"John." They continued down a corridor, arriving at one of many offices. Rodgers handed them their schedules. Ron in particular perused his with consternation.

"Physics lab at six on Monday morning?"

"Oh, don't worry about that, almost no one takes attendance here. But a lot of the instructors, myself included, do like to give pop quizzes."

"I don't know, KP..."

"So not the drama, Ron. Besides, it looks like we have about half of the same classes."

"Oh, and one more thing, your housemates wanted to meet with you two before you left."

* * *

Students from all over the world were catching rides back home, to return a month or so later. Kim and Ron caught up with the rest of their housemates.

"Hey, did we miss anything? Did you finish formulating a dastardly plot to break us up?" Ron asked.

"Um, no. Why would we do that?" said Marina.

"I don't know, it just seems like the sort of thing that people would do to us in college."

"You'll have to forgive Ron," said Kim. "He's been awake for about 23 of the past 24 hours."

"But anyway, Ron, we figured out what we need for the house, and here's your share," said Dustin. Ron looked over the list, and having no objections, climbed into a car with Kim. After what felt like a dozen changes in vehicle and direction, they were at the Middleton Mall, where Kim's mom was waiting for them.

"So, how was orientation?"

"Less talk, more sleep, Mom," said Kim.

"How about you, Ronald?"

"Nothing too out of the ordinary, got a grand tour of the place, stopped Dementor, ended up with ferociously bad schedules for the first semester, the usual."

* * *

AN: Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the plot with WEE and Gemini, it's just that nothing has changed there over the course of this chapter. As usual, reviews will almost always receive replies. I'll be out of town the last two weeks of September and the first week of October, so it may be a while before I have an update ready.


	6. Chapter 6

"Everything seems to be in order, Ronald," said one of Martin Smarty's assistants. "We don't ordinarily authorize transfers for associates with less than a full year of experience, but Martin insisted and we received documentation from Global Justice."

"Yeah, un-kidnapping him and repairing his relationship with his son certainly has its benefits."

"I can imagine. Your next day at work at Smarty Mart will be at our Sterling location. While you are here, do you need anything more for your dorm?"

"It's not really a dorm..."

"Whatever, do you need anything?" The assistant was growing snippier by the second.

"Well, actually..." Ron pulled the list from his pocket, inadvertently awakening Rufus, who was not pleased. "Sorry, buddy. You'll just have to do without a blanket for a little while." Ron made a mental note to "accidentally" leave a naco wrapper in his pocket in the future. Taking another quick look at the list, he soon realized pretty much everything he had been "assigned" could be found in housewares, which meant...

"Stoppable! You seem to be shopping for dorm supplies," bellowed Steve Barkin.

"Well, not everything. See, my housemates..." Ron pulled the list back out of his pocket and handed it to his former high school nemesis.

"Wait a minute? You actually met with your housemates and divided up necessities ahead of time? I suppose Dr. Rodgers may not be as crazy as I thought."

Ron thought "It takes one to know one," but it came out of his mouth as "You know my advisor?"

"Yes. But don't think it will score you points with him." Within about twenty minutes, Ron was leaving Smarty Mart with a toaster oven, a cappuccino machine and assorted smaller housewares.

* * *

Kim was prowling Club Banana, trying to ensure she had a complete wardrobe for her first semester of college.

"Now Kim, just because I get a commission now doesn't mean you have to single-handedly empty this store just in time for me to transfer over to Upperton." Monique was attending the University of Upperton, on a path that would give her bachelor's degree and an MBA in five years. "Besides, don't they give you uniforms?"

"No, not until our second year. I just want to make a good impression on my housemates."

"That sounds like something Bonnie would say. Are you sure you don't just want to bogart all the available closet space in order to knock someone down a few pegs?"

"Well, when you put it that way...I really am acting all Bonnie-like. Speaking of 'witch,' have you heard from her at all?"

"Fortunately, no. I thought you might have, what with her boyfriend's father's hobby."

"No, the Seniors have been quiet lately, but I've got a nagging suspicion things will heat up with them come midterms."

* * *

Donald Shelby and three other men were next to their tents somewhere along the Appalachian Trail; they weren't sure if they were in Massachusetts or Vermont, but that wasn't important. What was important was that they were nowhere near anyone who would recognize or care that Mr. Shelby was in fact Sheldon Director, leader of the Worldwide Evil Empire, and that he was accompanied by agents Pi, Iota and Sigma.

"I'm glad you all could join me out here, away from the prying eye of my little sister and her lackeys."

"And away from Pepe," muttered Agent Pi.

"I heard that, but I'll let it slide for now...I hope Agent Psi isn't having too much trouble with him." He paused for a second. "If this were _Family Guy_, they would have cut away to Pepe doing something unspeakable. Anyway, Agent Iota, you had mentioned you had an issue with Operation Virus."

"Yes. As you all know, we have an agent in as a student at the Global Justice Academy, only he doesn't know that he's working for us. We managed to keep him away from Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable as much as possible. He only shares one class with either of them, a 6 am Monday physics lab with Ron."

"I wouldn't wish that on anybody," said Gemini.

"Anyway, back to my issue. It regards how to handle our agent after we have him begin the endgame. Specifically, how he should deal with Miss Possible." Gemini seems to lose himself in thought momentarily.

"I recall that at one of our other meetings you seemed to suggest that we should have him attempt to bring Kim and Ron into our little cabal. I and Agent Gamma, well, back then he was Epsilon, were more in favor of keeping them out of this, considering their constant toadying towards Betty. This would be magnified by what she offered the two of them: an opportunity to attend college together. In addition, I tried to bring Ron in a few years back as you all should be aware, and to put it simply, he's too loyal to Kim, who is too loyal to You-Know-Who."

"Then, of course, there was Agent Lambda's idea," said Agent Sigma

"And that is why you were promoted from Agent Tau. Everyone and their mother tries to break up Kim and Ron. Only WEE realizes they could easily see through that. And by WEE, of course, I mean the people whom I choose to retain."

"Certainly, sir."

"That being said, I recommend that we draft plans reflecting both possibilities, one with Kim and Ron as part of our operation and one without. When we implement Phase III, we will select whichever plans will best facilitate the quick and clean downfall of Global Justice. Agent Sigma, will you go ahead and pack everything up? We do not want bears getting into our supplies. They are godless, soulless killing machines, and they're probably covert Global Justice agents, or at least on their side."

* * *

"I imagine we're going to have to get used to this place, Ron."

"Not exactly," said a staff member. "There are many ways of getting on and off the Global Justice Academy campus, but they all have one thing in common..."

"They're designed so that we have no idea where we are?" Ron suggested, drawing a weird look from his girlfriend.

"Exactly." Kim and Ron left the port of entry on a what looked like an oversized golf cart towing their belongings to their new houses. Throughout the "subdivision," dozens of incoming students, some in uniform, some not, were moving their belongings in for their first, third, fifth or seventh semester. Kim's house was their first stop, and although she was prepared to resort to certain facial expressions in order to gain assistance in moving in, Ron began hauling Kim's wardrobe inside without any sort of prompt.

"KP, which room is yours? This is getting heavy and I'm getting hungry." Ron fell through a likely looking door, but it was not Kim's room. Vicki was on her laptop, talking with relatives back home.

"Oh, that's Kim's boyfriend." She turned to Ron. "Can I help you with that?"

"No, I'm good," Ron said. "You wouldn't happen to have anything to eat, would you?"

"Look behind you. There should be some biscuits." Ron found the box.

"I don't see any biscuits. I did find this thing of cookies..." Vicki reached behind her back, expecting to grab the box herself. Instead, she found her hand on Ron's pants, just below the belt, right as Kim was walking back to the cart to bring in another load. She cleared her throat to make her presence known. Fortunately for everyone involved, Kim saw enough to realize that this was nothing to be worried about...for now. Then again, Ron didn't know that Kim knew.

"Ron, I have one more load to pick up. You'll have more time for socializing and/or dining after we get you moved in." Kim's nonchalance was a bit disconcerting to Ron, but he decided to roll with it. He certainly preferred it to JellCon 1, as had happened on a few occasions, most recently the previous fall. The remainder of the move-in at Kim's house was uneventful, as was the move into Ron's house. His housemates were of little help, as they were already ensconced in Zombie Football League 2K? and were in a state of near-catatonia. As soon as the last of Ron's belongings were in their proper places, Kim laid down on Ron's bed.

"Keep your door open!" yelled a voice from downstairs. Ron was able to laugh it off, but then Kim got his attention.

"Do you mind telling me why our mutual acquaintance from Down Under was getting a little, how should I put it..."

"No, I don't mind. She wasn't really looking were she was reaching, and grabbed something other than snackage."

"All right, that's what it looked like. But you are aware that you have a cleaner slate here, and that certain people will not be aware of times where, well, your essential Ronness wasn't well regarded and they used this against you, aren't you?"

"Say what?"

"Almost nobody here thinks you're a loser, and thus, if they believe in some kind of food chain, you're not at the bottom."

"I'm still not sure what you're getting at, KP." Ron was being honest here, but Kim was starting to lose her patience with him.

"I don't want you alone with any of my housemates, Ron." Kim immediately realized that came out wrong.

"Wait, what? You really think I'm going to cheat on you?"

"No, it's not like that. It's more like..."

"The ladies will be all up ons and you don't want me to have to pry them off because they can't resist the Ron?"

"That's closer."

"Just one thing, KP. If you want to make it clear I'm taken...you know, I don't think there are as many rules here about public displays of affection," Ron said in a tone of voice Kim hadn't heard before and hoped that no one else had heard. She pulled him down on top of her, but his momentum pulled the two of them across and off the bed. They hit the floor hard enough to draw the attention of Ron's housemates.

"Keep it down up there!"

"You know, Kim, as far as I know my roommates aren't going to try to take you from me, so this whole staking your claim thing...wouldn't it be more effective at your place? Or in the middle of class sometime?" Kim thought this over, then decided to go with the first of Ron's suggestions.

* * *

The phone rang. Its owner rolled over to the nightstand, saw the number and reluctantly answered. "Yeah, what do you want?"

"I can tell our phone etiquette hasn't yet mellowed with age."

"Betty, do you realize what time it is?"

"I've been up for an hour already."

"And I guess you just got back from taking your Hoveround for a spin around Tysons Corner."

"Please, Sharon. I'm not even old enough to be your mother without statutory rape being involved."

"Whatever, what do you want from me?" Ever since assisting in the Lorwardian invasion, Shego had been called upon for various tasks by Global Justice, which she did grudgingly in exchange for continued amnesty and decent financial compensation. "I've spent more than a decade being a hero or a villain. For a little while, I'd like to just be me."

"I'm not sure you know who this 'me' you speak of is."

"For someone who claims to be not old enough to be my mother, you sure are sounding like it."

"Well, if you don't want to do it, I'll just get a certain one of the new freshmen here to do it." That threat got Shego's attention.

"Okay, I'm game." Perhaps Dr. Director knew her a little too well. "Now what is it you want, and what makes you think that Kimmie could do it just as well as I could?"

* * *

Kim woke up next to Ron as she had a few times before, but for some reason this time seemed different. For one thing, it was the first time they had done so without the knowledge of their parents. Ron had at one time feared doing such a thing would lead to a one-way trip to a black hole, but later learned that Dr. Possible would only do so upon his daughter's orders.

"Enjoy sleeping in while you can, Ron. Pretty soon you'll have to be up at 5 am every Monday, and you won't have anyone here making sure you're up."

"Yeah, that tanks. And also it'll be tough getting up."

"Ahem." Rufus cleared his throat, as if to say he would take it upon himself to ensure Ron would reach his physics lab on time.

"Rufus, you spend more than half the day asleep. I'm not sure I can rely on you to wake Ron up that early." Rufus seemed genuinely hurt by this brutally honest assessment of his circadian rhythms. "I guess this would be a good time for me to sneak on back over to my place."

"KP, we are at your place," said Ron.

"Oh, right." Things were getting a bit awkweird for Kim, but four little beeps gave her an out.

"Wade, what's the sitch?"

"Dr. Director wants to see you ASAP."

"Tell her I'm on my way."

* * *

All in all, Gemini was on a bit of a roll. Pepe had behaved himself for Agent Psi, and reportedly only growled briefly at the mention of Betty's organization. His plan, while admittedly in the very early stages had not yet run into any major difficulties. Besides, he needed the fresh air. He was presiding over a meeting of the Worldwide Evil Empire's top twenty-something agents; coincidentally, virtually none of them were twenty-somethings.

"Agents, the beginning of the end of Global Justice is upon us. It may seem odd for the leader of an evil organization to call for restrain and moderation, but that is precisely what is necessary at this time. We cannot raise suspicions that anything is afoot until it cannot be stopped. As such, I am calling off all reconnaissance missions at all installations outside of the Academy. When you return to work, there will be no need to report to myself or another one of your superiors. You all will be going off grid until further notice. Thank you."

After he finished, one of the agents pulled him aside.

"Sir, are you certain about this."

"Yes. You never know when my little sister may be listening to us. Let's not give her anything to listen to."

* * *

AN: Well, my writing has accelerated from snail's pace to tortoise's pace. As usual, reply and chances are I will respond.


	7. Chapter 7

Word of warning: Contains some flashbacks, which will be in italics.

* * *

Shego had a long, often testy relationship with Global Justice. At first, it seemed it would be a match made in heaven. It all started during the summer between her junior and senior years of high school, a few years after a comet made an impact on Go City. Shego was starting to grow weary of Hego's ideas of heroism. Then one day, the team arrived late to a villain's hideout.

"_You haven't seen the last of Doctor Weltzerstörer!" The mad scientist had been apprehended by Global Justice just outside of Go City Hall. Team Go had been the first choice of the authorities, but Hego insisted that the team go through the 'proper' channels in apprehending the madman. Shego and Mego had insisted that they throw caution to the wind for different reasons; Shego because she had received a tip from one of her high school math teachers, Dr. Load; Mego because he knew where the cameras would be to capture his moment of glory. As a result, the team arrived just as the madman was being taken away._

"_Well, our work here is done," said Hego proudly._

"_But we didn't do anything!" yelled Mego._

"_Didn't we?" said Hego._

"_No! And even worse, the media's already gone!" The fourteen-year-old had already had a taste of fame, and unlike his older sister, he relished the spotlight. Shego hung around the scene for a little while longer, then approached one of the lingering Global Justice agents._

"_Hey, I thought you all would just leave us the mop-up duty," said/spat the agent to the approaching superheroine._

"_Well if Captain Blowhard had listened to certain people, that is exactly what your job would have been today. He's gotten even worse since he started college."_

"_Speaking of which, have you been thinking about where you're going?"_

"_In case you couldn't tell, I've been a little busy the last few years. Some things are going to be on the back burner."_

"_Here, let me give you my supervisor's card. She's also part of the board of admissions for the Global Justice Academy. Just throwing it out there." Shego took the card and trudged back towards the Go Tower._

"Thank you for coming here on such short notice."

"Listen, Betty, let's make this quick. Drewfus wants me to meet the part of his family that does not refer to me as 'Green Babe,' and I've got to admit, I'm a little skeptical."

"I will do what I can, but I can't guarantee anything."

"Gee, when have I heard that before?"

"_Okay, can you guarantee that none of this leaves this room, Ms. Director?"_

"_I will do what I can, but I can't guarantee anything. There are some things that I would be obligated to disclose, and I'm not even permitted to tell you what I can and can't disclose." Shego and the head of Region V Field Operations, Elizabeth Director, were meeting at her office, discussing the possibility that there would be a place for Shego in the next entering class at the Global Justice Academy._

"_Have you dealt with my older brother?"_

"_I can't say that I've had the pleasure," said the one-eyed woman._

"_If you had, you sure as hell wouldn't be calling it 'pleasure,' I can tell you that much. About the best thing I can say about him is that he is a pompous oaf. It's like he thinks he's living in a comic book. I've seen a lot of evil, and I've got to admit, I think I'm starting to like it."_

"_Can you give me specific examples?" Shego was not really prepared for this sort of conversation. Her brothers certainly would have laughed off her concerns, probably attributing them to her gender. She sat there for a minute, trying to come up with an incident that reflected how her ideas of heroism clashed with those of her brother._

"_No, I can't really come up with one right now, I mean, it just gets so complicated sometimes."_

"_We can meet another time, another place. You should get yourself back home. You never know who's going to need you." Shego return to the Go Tower, where the team was waiting for a call that didn't come."_

"Dr. Director, you wanted to...Shego? What is she doing here?" Kim was already halfway into mission mode, and the presence of a frequent enemy pushed her even further.

"Easy there, Kimmie. Betty appears to have invited both of us. Either that or she has an identical twin."

"Nope, just myself and Sheldon. Anyway, I believe I need both of you for this task, and I need you both on the same page. We have received intelligence that one of the professors here is in danger." She handed the two younger women a folder. Kim immediately recognized the photo.

"Dr. Rodgers?"

"Hey, not bad for fifty," said Shego, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't think our assignment will involve getting that close to him. At least, I hope it doesn't," said Kim. "I mean, one of my professors...and I don't think Ron would be a fan of the idea."

"Don't worry, there won't be any of that on this mission. The reason I need both of you is that Miss Possible is a freshman here and would have greater access to Professor Rodgers here on campus. A number of people here, some in high places, really are not too keen on Shego here."

"Don't get me started," Shego grumbled.

"_WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THEY DON'T WANT ME THERE?"_

"_Look, if it's any consolation, I and one of the department chairs left a particularly scathing dissent to the decision," said Dr. Director._

"_But, but, I had already let my deadlines for my other schools pass. I...HAVE...NOWHERE...TO...GO!" Shego stormed out of the room, carrying the binder that she had brought with her. An envelope slipped out of the binder onto the floor. Shego picked it up and realized that she didn't arrive with it. She pulled a piece of paper out of the envelope and immediately recognized the stationery. As she continued to read, her despair in regards to her post-high school plans gradually turned to rage; pure, unmitigated hatred towards everyone who had put her into this situation._

"So, in essence, Kim, you will be tailing Dr. Rodgers as much as possible on campus, while you, Shego will be handling him off-campus. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," both Kim and Shego said.

"Incidentally, what exactly would they want from him?" asked Kim.

"And who is after him? I mean, shouldn't we know, like..." Dr. Director cut off Shego.

"We are currently trying to figure exactly who is behind the threats, but they may already be here. As for what they may want, if it's what we believe it to be, I'm afraid that information cannot be disclosed."

"My first class with Dr. Rodgers is tomorrow. How will I keep track of him when I'm in my other classes?"

"You will not need to follow him that closely. We need to make sure they don't know we know something's up."

"And you don't even know who 'they' are." Shego's skepticism in regards to Global Justice was disconcerting to Kim, if for no other reason than it was starting to sound a little justified.

* * *

The lecture hall gradually began to fill with students. Kim and Ron managed to find two seats together a few rows up from the bottom near the aisle. This would allow for relatively quick egress in the event of a mission. They realized it would be bad form to duck out on the first day of class, but if duty called, they couldn't let it go to voice mail. At precisely 9:05 A.M., Dr. John Rodgers entered the lecture hall carrying a large stack of papers.

"Good morning, everyone. This is your syllabus." He dropped the stack on one of the desks in the front row. "Now if I could get a few people to help me, there are a hundred more of these in my office." A few students, including Ron, began to get up, but then he picked up one packet from the stack. "Just seeing if you all were awake. This should be enough for everyone, just take one and pass the rest outward or upward. Most of the procedural matters will be found in the syllabus, how I determine your grade, make-up policies, et cetera, et cetera. One thing you will not find is an attendance policy, because there is none. You will also not find test days on the schedule, except for the final. That was my mistake, I will now tell you when the tests will be; you may want to get out something to write with. They will be on...whichever days I feel like giving them. Anything that is covered in here is fair game for said tests. Now that our procedural matters are out of the way, on to the actual class, Introduction to Global Justice. What is first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Global Justice?" A few hands rose, then lowered, pointing in the direction of two of the students near the bottom of the lecture hall next to the aisle. Kim gave a quick, awkward wave.

"Oh, it's going to be one of those classes," muttered Ron under his breath.

"In some ways, what Miss Possible and Mr. Stoppable have been doing is a lot like what we do. But it is so much more than that; if that was all we were, they wouldn't need to be here. Think of them as paramedics, first responders, and we do that, but we're also the dispatchers, the ambulance drivers and everyone at the hospital." Dr. Rodgers then proceeded with a brief history of the organization, how its initial primary mission was to keep track of nuclear weapons, gradually picking up more and more duties as time went by. Before they knew it, the allotted time for the class was up. Most of the class left as quickly as possible, but a few students, Kim and Ron included, stuck around for various reasons. They allowed the others to go ahead of them in line since neither of them had class again right away. After what seemed like an hour, they finally had a minute with Dr. Rodgers.

"Can you make it quick? I have a meeting on the other side of campus in about ten minutes."

"We'll walk with you," said Ron.

"Fine, then." For someone who had seemed so congenial in every previous encounter, his retiring, pensive attitude now was a shock to the system.

"So, Dr. Rodgers, what did you do before you came here?"

"I graduated from high school."

"Really?" said Kim.

"Yes, I have spent my entire adult life with Global Justice, I was here when they opened this place in the '80s, but I have a feeling you wanted to talk about something other than my life story." He was right, of course, but Kim remembered what Dr. Director had said about not following him too closely.

"Well, yeah, but I'd rather not talk about it, you know, out in the open," said Kim.

"Tell you what, I have office hours Tuesday and Thursday from noon until two. Stop by then and we'll have more time and privacy."

"Sounds good." Kim let the professor head off towards his meeting while she and Ron found their way over to the student center.

"Maybe you could get Wade in on this. He could find out a little more about Dr. Rodgers," suggested Ron.

"And as much as I know you're not going to want to hear this, you should see if Barkin knows anything."

* * *

"Sharon, this is my brother, Ted Lipsky." Drakken's mother was busy introducing Shego to the rest of the family. Judging from the comments that those relatives muttered under their breath, particularly the males, one would think that Drakken's real name had been "Lucky Bastard." Either way, the general sentiment was that it was about damned time that the frontman and only known member of the Blue Scientist Group find someone.

"You're good for Drew, seriously," said the man who looked like a 25-years-older version of Motor Ed. Fortunately for everyone involved, he was virtually nothing like his son in terms of his view of the opposite sex. That didn't stop Shego from excusing herself for refresh her beverage.

"Dr. D, I got reeled into babysitting one of Global Justice's professors."

"Why don't you get someone to cover for you? Someone who owes us a couple of favors?"

"Kimmie's already covering him at Fort Learninworth. Also, she's not 21 yet..."

"Like that would stop her. I wouldn't want to be the bartender who turns her down. The law is stupid anyway."

"Hang on. Imagine yourself as a freshman in college. Or better yet, imagine..." Motor Ed's bike crashed through the picket fence and skidded to a stop about ten feet away from Drakken and Shego.

"Now, now. You really think he was that much more mature when he was 21?"

"Either way, we'll get her on something else, ideally something that involve inconveniencing her a lot. Oh, by the way, how do like your new and improved coco-moo?"

"Haven't had any of it yet. How exactly did you...oh, whoa, that is strong! This'll have to be my last one."

"Besides, and don't tell anyone I feel this way, I really don't want anything to happen to him. I've let him down a lot and I owe it to him." Drakken liked hearing about Shego's life outside of him about as much as she liked talking about it, so he wisely tried to change the subject.

"So, anyway...what is your overall impression of the Lipsky horde?"

"I must confess, I was expected a whole bunch of Motor Ed clones, but I'll admit, I've been pleasantly surprised."

* * *

"THWAP!" A shoe struck linoleum with great force.

"This is my hose, yeh feckin' roach! I'll set aboat yeh!" shouted Andrea, attempting again to flatten the insect. The commotion didn't faze Kim and Ron, although they were hoping it wouldn't be too common once they started having actual homework.

"So, is she related to Duff Killigan or something?" asked Ron.

"I brought it up once and she just sort of mumbled something about Rangers and Celtic, so I'm guessing no. Now, where were we?" Kim slid back into a position well-suited for using Ron as a pillow, but just then, the four notes Kim occasionally dreaded rang out from the Kimmunicator.

"Go Wade."

"I looked into Dr. Rodgers."

"Did you find anything that anyone would come after him about?" asked Ron.

"Nothing in the last fifteen years that could possibly raise an eyebrow."

"Did you try going back any further?"

"Here's where it gets weird. There are no records of him at all before then. It's like he materialized out of thin air," said Wade. "And then it gets even weirder. I tried to get into Global Justice's personnel files, and I couldn't get in."

"That hasn't stopped you before, Wade." Kim raised an eyebrow at her tech guru.

"Well, I was able to find out who blocking me."

"Who was it?"

"It was Dr. Director." Suddenly, Kim and Ron understood Wade's unprecedented discretion.

* * *

AN: So, who can Kim and Ron trust? Review and I shall almost certainly reply.


	8. Chapter 8

"You have the right to defend yourself in the event of an attack or the imminent threat there..." A popping sound like bubble wrap interrupted Dr. Rodgers...permanently. He slumped to the floor, a gruesomely abstract pattern on the wall behind him. In the midst of the panic, Kim turned around to see Dr. Director with a high-powered rifle. Then another pop...

Kimberly Anne Possible woke up in a cold sweat. She was not sleeping well the night after her first day of classes at the Global Justice Academy, and the classwork had virtually nothing to do with it. She seemed to be having the same dream over and over again that night. There was just so much about that little conversation with Wade that was disturbing on many levels. She wondered whether Ron was having these same sort of visions. There was only one way to find out if that was the case, but it would require waking Ron up at an ungodly hour. Then again, payback's a bitch and Kim was her pimp.

"K-KP, what is it?" asked Ron blearily.

"Have you been having any nightmares tonight?"

"No, but judging by your tone of voice and time of calling, you have?"

"Yeah. And I'm sorry, I just..."

"You have nothing to apologize for, KP. Tell you what. If it happens again tonight, you're staying over here tomorrow night."

"When you put it that way, I may just have to have another nightmare."

"I didn't say you had to have another nightmare to stay over. Now go back to bed." Kim hung up the phone and tried to fall back asleep. She didn't have any more nightmares that night, but that was due in large part to her inability to fall back asleep.

* * *

Kim and Ron's second day of classes was fairly uneventful. Mostly just professors discussing syllabuses and attendance policies. After all was said and done, the first week of October was looking worse and worse. Between the two of them, Kim and Ron would have seven midterm exams or projects due that week alone. Kim also remembered what Monique had told her back in Middleton, that the Seniors and/or Bonnie would probably be involved in some kind of evil plan around then.

"I don't know, I really don't see that happening unless all our midterm stuff ends being much worse than we thought," offered Ron. Kim really couldn't do anything other than laugh at this, realizing that Ron was almost certainly going to be correct.

"OK, Ron, now you have to be at work in an hour. You'd better catch the next shuttle there." They kissed and he went on his way.

"Well, Rufus, let's see how this Smarty Mart feels about having a hairless pet on the job." Much like any other means of transport off the GJA campus, the van had no windows and the route seemed oddly circuitous. Most of the passengers were simply there to pick up things they needed at competitive prices, but Ron waited for the next stop, actually in the stock room.

"Hi, you must be the transfer from out west. Although, I'll go ahead and say up front that we're only doing this because Martin himself gave the order," said a man in a three-piece suit and orange tie.

"You sure know how to make a guy fell welcome, Mr...um,"

"Ferraro. You can call me Tony," he said with a thick New York accent. "Your immediate supervisor is out today, so you'll be answering to me. We should have a shipment of large cats coming in any minute now, but until they get here..." he gestured toward a pallet full of assorted fodder, "it's feeding time. Have fun." Ron didn't usually enjoy feeding the merchandise, but it would probably be a good way for him to get back into his Smarty Mart groove.

"Rufus, it looks like I'm going to need a box cutter. Are you game?" The naked mole rat grabbed a nearby grindstone and sharpened his already fairly sharp front teeth. He then sliced open the top box on the pallet, then another, and another as Ron meted out the day's rations to the hopefully temporary inhabitants of the pet department. Just as they returned the empty pallet to the storage room, Tony asked Ron for help with the mountain lions. All the humans involved agreed it was best for Rufus to sit this one out.

* * *

Unlike Ron, Kim had decided against continuing to work, although with the secret extension of the Metro that serviced the Academy it remained a possibility. Kim had decided that Tuesday and Thursday afternoons would be a good time for studying, which would certainly be needed later in the year as opposed to now; there are only so many times one needs to re-read a syllabus. But without Ron and without any schoolwork, Kim was bored. She returned to her house for a nap, but just as she was about to drift off into sleep, her Kimmunicator went off.

"Dr. Director?"

"Are you just now waking up?"

"No, I slept like a baby last night; I woke up every two hours wanting to scream my lungs out. So I was trying to catch up."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I need you in my office immediately." Kim couldn't figure out if the director of Global Justice was angry, scared or concerned, or some combination of the three, but in any case, she thought it necessary to heed the request, although she was unsure about the exact reason for the meeting. When she arrived at Dr. Director's office, she seemed a little bit too calm.

"Have a seat, please." After that, she sat there for a minute, maybe a little longer before continuing. "Miss Possible, do you care to tell me what Wade was doing attempting to access our personnel files? I imagine that he would not take the time out to undertake such an endeavor unless he was specifically ordered to do so."

"After you assigned me to protect Dr. Rodgers, if that is his real name..."

"Which it is."

"I had Wade look into our mutual acquaintance. He could find no record of his existence prior to fifteen years ago. Care to explain that?"

"When I first provided the assignment to you and Shego, I told you that it was possible that Dr. Rodgers was being targeted for reasons I cannot disclose. That is all I have to say about that. Tell Wade that if he tries to access our systems again without authorization, he can expect my friend Spike to drop in. Are we clear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Incidentally, the chatter regarding Dr. Rodgers has died down. You may not need to follow him quite as closely as originally anticipated. Shego, being responsible for him off-campus, likely will still need to be on duty." Kim left the office feeling little better about the whole situation.

* * *

"Care for another one?" asked the bartender.

"Yeah, and put all of her tab on mine," said Dr. Rodgers, gesturing towards the younger woman at the end of the bar.

"You know she's like, twenty years younger than you, and has been on the receiving end of your organization more than a few times."

"She's on our side now. On orders of none other than my boss."

"So, do you two have a past?"

"Who, me and Betty? We thought about it back in the day..."

"No, you and her?"

"The first time I heard about her was back when I was in Admissions. Let's just say that I did not play well with others back then. I guess I still don't."

"Nor do I. Never have and I don't think I ever will." The woman lit up one of her hands to reignite a candle that have gone out. She got up and sat down next to the professor.

"What brings you here, Shego?"

"Your boss wants me to do a few things for her, and Kimmie still owes me for leaving Dr. D's lair in worse condition than most of the freshman guys' rooms here."

"Well, right now, your boss has Possible in a meeting...apparently she had someone do a little too much probing into Global Justice's servers."

"Look, if Betty's going to get all Hego on Kim, then I'm just going to let what happens, happen."

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Oh, where have we heard this story before? Ambitious young woman seeks to join up with Global Justice, runs into resistance from brass..."

"Stop, just stop. Look, I haven't known her as long as you have, but she is NOTHING like you." Shego was dumbstruck for a minute. There was a time when she would have taken that as a compliment. But that was before she was given the opportunity to start over by the same organization that had arguably been the deciding factor in sending her to the other side.

"The first time you met me, we were on opposite sides of a table in an interrogation room. I thought you were the bad cop." It seemed as though the beverages Shego had been consuming were beginning to take effect. "I swore you'd never know what really happened that night, you know, there are just things in my past that I had to do, you understand, right?" Dr. Rogers visibly flinched at this statement, then abruptly got up and walked out, leaving enough to cover both of their tabs.

* * *

Even if Kim had gone blind during the course of the day, she could have smelled her way over to Ron's house, and not in a bad way either. She had a seventh sense about these sorts of things (the sixth sense, of course, was able to tell if the Tweebs were up to something) that Ron was plotting, although she was hoping that Ron would be able to surprise her at least once more in the next few years. She saw Ron's housemates voraciously yet neatly devouring the contents of their plates.

"You know, Ron could learn from you three." No one attempted to talk with their mouth full, but still Kim felt as though she had been acknowledged. She entered the kitchen and saw Ron at work building the last three plates. Not wanting to interrupt his craftsmanship, she tried to slip back out into the living room. Ron would have none of that. He put down the plates and grabbed Kim from behind.

"It feels like only yesterday that we were like this."

"Ron, it was earlier today. You know, the conference room?"

"Remind me again what we were doing in there?"

"Perhaps you could help me reenact the events?" Kim practically pounced on Ron, nearly knocking the two of them through a window.

"Hang on there, KP. Our main dishes are getting cold. We can have dessert later."

"You know I'm going to hold you to that," she said, kissing Ron. The rest of the meal went off without a hitch, or anyone complaining about anything relating to dinner. There was, however, some exchange of money among Ron's housemates.

"I heard you two talking about dessert," said Jacob, "We're all full, and we'll clean up here. Why don't you two have that over at your place? I mean, Ron did all this, he's all fooded out for today, maybe you could make him dessert."

"Yeah, we could do that." Kim and Ron walked the few blocks to Kim's house, which was unoccupied as the two of them hoped it would be. A note on the refrigerator indicated that Kim's housemates had gone on a hunting expedition at Tysons Corner, financed by Marina's father; also, the tiramisu was off limits.

"So, how was your first day back at Smarty Mart?"

"It was like I never left. There's a Bueno Nacho practically in the parking lot, my classes don't look too hard, we have this whole house to ourselves for a while, can the day get any better?"

"Oh, I'll make it better," said Kim lecherously. Just as the two of them fell into Kim's bed, the Kimmunicator went off.

"Seriously, is this going to happen every time we're alone?" Ron lamented.

"WHAT...IS...THE...SITCH?" Kim barked at Will Du, who appeared on the screen.

"If this is a bad time, it can wait. Sorry about that. Oh, and in the future, you may want to pick a conference room without security cameras. It's a good thing for both of you that recordings sometimes get erased accidentally. I'll catch you later."

"I wonder what that was all about," said Ron. "Now, where were we?"

* * *

"I just don't think that it was a good idea to completely cut off our communications with our mole."

"Please don't use that term. It's what Betty would call him." Sheldon/Gemini didn't so much say his sister's name as he spat it.

"Our agent on the inside?"

"Hmm, better. Now, about your complaint. That organization has an unrivaled and annoying ability to find out what we're doing before we do it."

"I know that, I just want to make sure that he hasn't done anything too terribly stupid, like get expelled or go on a drunken rant that Kim Possible or that other guy hears, like at a party or something."

"A valid concern, but when I and some of your former colleagues chose him, we felt that we screened out the sort of people who would be prone to those sort of missteps. I'm not going to ask you to have a seat yet, Agent Eta, because I still need you when we resume our operation."

"I'm glad your sister isn't here to see this. She'd probably think you were going soft."

"If going smart means I'm going soft, then, well, that's not a surprising sentiment from someone like her. Besides, if I were going soft, I wouldn't have this ace up my sleeve." Gemini called his agent over to a bank of security feeds. "Take a look at the top center monitor and tell me what you see."

"It looks we're receiving a shipment of some kind. What is it? And why are they dressed like that?" He watched with Gemini as two men in protective suits pried open the crate. A pile of junk poured out. "It's just a bunch of scrap metal! This is your wild card?"

"Oh, it's not just any scrap metal. Old radiological equipment can be very useful." The men quickly loaded the equipment into a gray casket-looking container on a forklift.

"OK, I think I see where you're going with this, but I really don't understand why you are doing this when we're already doing the whole 'agent on the inside' thing. Are you really going to let him get irradiated?"

"Certainly not. For security reasons, I am not going to elaborate any further on my plan at this time."

* * *

AN: Gemini has a task for his mole, while Ron has a task for his naked mole rat. The next chapter jumps ahead a bit time-wise. Review and I shall reply.


	9. Chapter 9

It wasn't even light out yet. And yet, Ron Stoppable was trudging to his physics lab just as he had the previous few Mondays. Fortunately, Newtonian mechanics did not provide as many opportunities for injury as, say, chemistry. Any attempt to perk himself up just made him jittery and no more coherent. The assistant professor who was monitoring the lab picked up on this fairly quickly.

"You have a second?"

"Not really, I have another class to be at in ten minutes."

"Oh, all right, but remember that the last day to drop classes is tomorrow." Granted, Ron wasn't failing, but he still was clearly not at his best at that time of day.

"I'd probably just get stuck with this time slot again!" yelled Ron in the general direction of his instructor. He met Kim right outside the lecture hall for Rodgers' class.

"You look terrible. Why don't you just drop physics? You'll probably have a better schedule if you just take it next semester."

"I've put too much into it. Besides, what if we get called out again during registration?" A familiar figure entered the hall, but it wasn't their professor.

"Hi, I am Will Du. I will be filling in for Dr. Rodgers today. As per his orders, take out a piece of paper and something to write with. Pop quiz time." Most of the class groaned, although this wasn't the first pop quiz that had been sprung on them, and most of the students, Kim and Ron included, had generally done well on the quizzes. Ten minutes later, the papers were all turned in, and Will got on with the day's lecture: Inter-agency Cooperation.

"You know, I'm starting to think our advisor took today off on purpose," whispered Kim to Ron, drawing a bit of a snicker.

"Had-a-tee-time-at-Congressional-itis?" said Ron. "I'm going to have to write this down."

"As well you should, Mr. Stoppable," said the agent. His attention quickly returned to the front of the hall and the subject at hand. "The primary challenge of inter-agency operations is to achieve unity of effort despite the diverse cultures, competing interests, and differing priorities of participating organizations. Can anyone here provide an example of...um, that thing I just said? Sorry, I learned I would be doing this lecture about ten minutes ago."

"Well, pretty much any government of just one nation is going to put its own interests over those of other nations or international organizations," offered Kim.

"Good point," said Will. "Take a look at the preamble of the charter of the United Nations, on which our own charter is based. 'To save succeeding generations from the scourge of war...to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.'" Ron then raised his hand.

"Um, when would we be co-operating with an organization that does not believe in those things?"

"Many natural and unnatural disasters occur in countries that are ill-equipped to handle them, whether by accident or by design."

"By design?" asked one student at the back of the room.

"Suppose an earthquake strikes part of a country that contains an undesirable ethnic group."

"Then we're not so much collaborating as we are going over their head and keeping them from attacking us as an invasion." said Kim.

"And thus, we have to work with them to prevent a Mogadishu-like scenario. Of course, dealing with a corrupt, authoritarian government is one thing, dealing with allies can be tricky in it's own way."

* * *

"Come on! Can't you take at least one day off?"

"Sorry, doctor's orders. And I've known her longer than I've known you."

"Shego, what have I told you about hurting with words?"

"Dr. D., you told me that was an excellent asset that helped you gain credibility within the villain community. Credibility that WE agreed to throw away in exchange for some degree of normalcy in our lives."

"Is normalcy even a word?"

"Never mind that. The point is, if you want us to be able to do anything together anytime soon, you're going to have to go through one of our mutual acquaintances."

"She does still owe us, you know, for letting her welch on cleaning up the Caribbean lair. Actually, Shego, seeing as she's making you stick around that guy, why don't you get Betty to give us somewhere to stay down there? The worst she could do is say no."

"I'll see about that." Shego hung up and called a number she had first gotten a few months before the Lorwardian invasion. It immediately went to went to voicemail. "Hey, Kimmie. Betty wants to see us sometime today. Not sure what it's about, probably Dr. Rodgers." Of course, Dr. Director didn't know that she wanted to see Kim and Shego that day, so Shego called her.

"Make it quick, I'm supposed to be in a teleconference with two presidents, three prime ministers, two premiers and a chancellor in negative five minutes."

"I'd like to renegotiate the status of my present task."

"Huh?"

"The whole thing with Dr. Rodgers."

"Oh, that, well, as soon as I get done with my conference, I'll tell Miss Possible to meet us somewhere."

"OK, thank you."

"You know, it's a little weird hearing you be polite."

"It's a little weird hearing you not argue with me. Bye." Shego abruptly hung up before the one-eyed director of Global Justice could get the last word in. She called Drakken back.

"What did she say?"

"There will be a meeting this afternoon."

"So, no dice?"

"I wouldn't bet on it. Seeing as fall break is coming up soon, I may be able to convince Possible to take over for me for a little while..."

"Or she'll get a mission from Short Round and leave you babysitting him again."

"Let's try to be optimistic now, m'kay?"

* * *

"So, how did your English midterm go, KP?"

"Oh, not bad, I mean, considering what we've faced before, writing a three-page essay on common themes of dystopian literature in fifty minutes seems a bit prosaic. How was art history?"

"I think I may have had a few isms out of order, but overall, that studying you made me do the past couple of nights helped."

"Hang on, I have a voicemail." Kim called and listened to the message from Shego. "Well, at least she's waiting until after our midterms to try to dump her assignment on me."

"Didn't she say that we owed her for helping us out with Dementor?"

"Ron, I think you're forgetting who we're dealing with here. I'm surprised it took less time to clean up her and Drakken's record than the Sistine Chapel."

"Hey, that was like the first week of art history..." Ron's phone rang. "Hello? Oh, hi. Yeah, over in your office? We'll be there in a minute...or five. OK."

"Who was that, and what did you get us into?"

"That was Will Du, and he wanted to see us now-ish. He didn't say what it was about." Kim and Ron turned back from the residential part of campus and headed back towards the academic part of the Global Justice Academy. They entered a large room that looked more like a tech support office, only with more shooting than troubleshooting, and found their way to the last cubicle on the right.

"Make it quick, Kim needs to meet with Dr. Director.

"We found out what happened with your college applications."

"Wait, what?"

"It all goes back to a previous encounter that you two had with a Z-list villain." The agent pulled his image up on his computer.

"The Mathter?"

"As it turns out, when he attempted to erase your existence, even your guy had a hard time restoring everything, so some of our scientists, plus some volunteers working for Team Impossible, went to work. We believed that we had completely restored your identity, but I double checked everything shortly after you began classes here, and, well...some people didn't get the message." Kim and Ron let the news sink in for a moment.

"So, every college that I applied to still didn't believe I existed, even the ones I visited?"

"Yes, and that was partially our fault."

"How did you still know I existed?" Will didn't reply verbally, simply shifting his glance over to Kim.

"You haven't said anything yet, Miss Possible."

"I'm sorry, it's just this...I mean, on one hand, it's great that we finally have some closure on the whole college admission sitch, but, the Mathter? Seriously? And you're the ones supposed to be training us?"

"Hey, hey, wait a minute!" Global Justice's once (and future, he hoped) number one agent clearly was taking umbrage to Kim's last remark. "You wouldn't last a day here as even a district field operations supervisor, let alone director. And before you say anything, no, I'm not offering anything. You will have to make it through all four years and put in plenty of time in the field. It's not like you can just waltz in and become some kind of super agent."

* * *

"Father, I have pretended to read all of those scripts from the writers that you have brought here, and I have found one that will be my perfect star vehicle." Señor Senior, Junior decided that for his birthday, he wanted to give Hollywood one more shot, and his father was willing to oblige as only he and a few other could.

"Splendid, son, just like a real studio executive. If you don't mind, I shall need to summon our henchmen once more. Now that we have found a script to your liking, the next step for me is to abduct a number of directors from whom you may select the one who can bring your dream to life."

"And what of my lovely girlfriend? Surely you may find some way for her to be involved with this. I cannot bear to be apart from her, for however long it may take to turn my dream of international film superstardom."

"Did you not take that into consideration when you selected your script?" Unbeknownst to the two of them, Junior's girlfriend was listening to their conversation. Truthfully, this was much more her wish than his; he had long thought his path to stardom was in the music industry, but thanks to some uncharacteristically gentle persuasion, he had undergone a sea change. She would be the first to admit that her agenda was not entirely selfish; she wanted to spare him the humiliation of failure and the world of his music. At that moment, she finally entered the room in which the Seniors were holding the writers.

"Hi, I'm Bonnie. I'm not a big deal right now. Oh, wait, I am kind of a big deal. But I'll be a bigger deal one of these days. Now..." she leaned over one of the writers and lowered her voice. "...which one of you will make this happen?"

"Our...our scripts are on the table, except for the one that your boyfriend took," said one of the writers. "And you get killed off on page 20 of that one."

"Ass!" yelled the only writer whose script was not in the room.

"Very well, I'll make sure that you're the first one rescued," said Miss Rockwaller. "You'll be back in your studio apartment with that one roommate who smells like month-old meatloaf and the other one whose girlfriend is a screamer in no time." While the writers were there against their will, their holding cells were far nicer than their actual living accommodations in most cases. "In fact, I'm calling up one of my old high school classmates right now." She stepped out of the room and called the designer of her automated closet system.

"Oh, hey Bonnie, it's been a while." Wade had initially been leery of doing much of anything for Bonnie in light of her general attitude towards Kim, but he had just lost some patent lawsuits and could use the money. For her part, Bonnie was at least on non-sneering terms with Wade despite his affiliations.

"Listen, I know this sounds crazy, but I need Kim to do her thing. My boyfriend's dad has abducted a bunch of screenwriters, and I think he just sent some henchmen to bring some directors to his island. Apparently he's trying to produce a star vehicle for Junior."

"Kim is in a meeting right now with the director of Global Justice, I'll get her there as soon as I possibly can." Bonnie simply rolled her eyes and hung up on Wade.

* * *

"Glad you could make it, Miss Possible. Shego wanted us to meet about the arrangements regarding the protection of Dr. John Rodgers."

"Yes, Betty. I would like to see Kim taking a more active role in the professor's security detail during her break from classes."

"You mean, you would like to take a less active role in the professor's security detail during my break from classes," said Kim.

"I've heard it both ways."

"The chatter regarding Dr. Rodgers has been heating up again, and we feel that he may be more vulnerable off-campus than on."

"In that case, I have a different proposition for you," said Shego. "I will take over trailing him full-time over fall break and perhaps beyond under one condition."

"And what would that be?"

"Housing. It's quite a commute from where Drakken's staying. Is there any way that you all could get us a place down here? I mean, you have all those McMansions for the students; what about faculty or visiting dignitaries?"

"If I were to say no, would it drive you to violate the terms of your pardon?" asked Dr. Director, in an overt way of reminding Shego who held all the cards.

"I would like to think I've developed a little more self-control than that. I would also like to think that you are capable of not abusing that power that I have granted you over me," Shego retorted. "Well, Kimmie, it looks like you are the tiebreaker here. Do you want to go home for fall break or not?" No one said or did anything for about ten seconds. The silence and inaction were broken by the familiar sound of the Kimmunicator.

"Can I take this?"

"Go ahead."

"Wade, make it quick, I'm in a meeting with the director."

"It's the Seniors. Apparently Junior wants to be a movie star and so his father abducted some writers, and according to intelligence reports, he's about to bring in directors. And by intelligence reports, I mean Bonnie."

"This ought to be fun," said Ron.

"Can you patch me through to Bonnie?" asked Kim.

"Hang on a minute...done."

"I'm kind of in the middle of something, K," said Bonnie, who seemed out of breath. "When can you be here?"

"Has your boyfriend's father left already?"

"His henchmen left, they were supposed to have the directors here tomorrow morning."

"We will be there to meet them." Kim and Ron were surprised to have such a civilized conversation with Bonnie, however brief it was. Just then, Dr. Director announced her decision regarding housing for Drakken and Shego.

"OK, we'll try to set you up reasonably close to campus. I can't say the accommodations will be the most luxurious place you've ever stayed, but it's a heck of a lot close than any of Drew's known lairs."

"Whoa, that was easy," said Shego. Silently, she added, "maybe a little too easy?"

"Well, if we're all done here, we have our own business to attend to," said Kim.

"Go ahead," said Dr. Director. Just after Kim and Ron left, she continued her conversation with Shego. "So anyway, as it turns out, Dr. Rodgers happens to have a few acquaintances in Middleton. Kim will be part of the security team there over winter break. You will have no obligations to myself or Rodgers until he returns here, but she will also be free of any obligations that could occur to you to place upon her in that time. There will be consequences if you violate our agreement. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Director," said Shego with more than a hint of her traditional snippiness.

* * *

AN: Don't worry, I'm not going to start any more plot lines in this story. Any plot lines that I have already started will be more or less resolved before the end. Review and I shall almost certainly respond.


	10. Chapter 10

The faintest hint of daylight appeared just over the eastern horizon. Flying space available was not generally an option for most Global Justice cadets and their pets, but Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable and Rufus were not most Global Justice cadets and their pets. For some reason, there always seemed to be just enough room when Team Possible was needed, and the planes' flight paths always seemed to pass over their targets. Kim and Ron retreated to the Sloth, located in the rear of the cargo hold to prepare for the drop. Although it had not been driven much, the Tweebs left detailed maintenance instructions to allow Kim to keep the systems more or less in working order. Kim hoped that the rocket engines would be among the working parts.

"Our Lady of Blessed Ignition, don't fail me now!" She did not fail Kim then, as the rockets fired and Kim was able to stabilize the flight path. Just as the disk of the Sun began to emerge, a rocky crag did so as well. Kim and Ron called up Wade looking for advice on the best entryway into the Seniors' compound.

"Hello?" Wade said blearily.

"We're almost there, can you get us in undetected?" Wade yawned, then in less than a minute pulled up the proper schematics.

"That's weird. It's like he was expecting you. There seems to be a completely unsecured entrance leading to a room and several of the security systems have been overridden manually."

"Smells trappish," said Ron.

"Or we could have someone on the inside helping us. Remember who told us about this sitch in the first place."

"Someone who has hated us since before you were saving people from super-villains or laser grids. Maybe she's the one who is setting the trap." This gave Kim pause. While Ron's hypothesis made sense, it did not gibe with the conversation she had with Bonnie less than 24 hours ago. Nonetheless, caution was always merited in these situations.

"Okay, Wade, can you give us another way in?" Marginally more awake, Wade attempted to access the security system's master controls.

"Almost got it...done. Go in through the pool area, there's a door by the hot tub. The writers are being held in that room...hang on, I'm picking up something on the radar. Looks like Senior is returning with his next load of captives. Do you want to catch him on the airstrip?"

"Let's get the writers out first. We'll deal with Senior later." Kim and Ron drove ashore and ran up the steps leading to the larger-than-Olympic-sized swimming pool. As they made their way upwards, one of the other doors opened, and Bonnie made her way towards the pool. Unlike Kim, Ron noticed, and that little bit of distraction was enough for Ron to find himself and Rufus taking an unexpected swim. The splash certainly drew Kim's attention, and Bonnie's for that matter.

"Sorry about that, K, I guess I have that effect on guys. You wouldn't understand."

"Hello, B. Good to see you, too."

"Why aren't you going in the way where all the security is out?"

"Usually, when a villain intentionally leaves a path for us, there's a trap at the end. So we just had Wade shut down another way up."

"That...actually makes sense, really. I just wanted to spare the world of Señor Senior, Junior: The Movie. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love everything he does for me, but he should stick to his strengths."

"Let me guess; buying you things," replied Ron, who was in the process of drying himself off.

"I shan't dignify that with a response," said Bonnie in a overly pompous manner.

"If you'll excuse us, we have a job to do." Regardless of the fact that the person who was asking for their help was the one delaying them, Kim and Ron went ahead inside and found the writers, most of whom were either just waking up or just about to wake up.

"Hey, if this is how Senior treats captives, can we really call this a rescue?" asked Ron.

"It's all her fault!" yelled one of the writers, pointing out the door towards Bonnie, who was outside by the pool, reading another one of the scripts. "She's the one that called you here!"

"But you were brought here against your will, right?"

"Well, yeah, but..." The writer trailed off. Ron pulled Kim aside.

"Um, KP, let's just go ahead and call up GJ, have them bring in Senior and take everybody, ourselves included, home."

"Yeah, this sitch could not possibly become any more ridiculous."

* * *

"Drewbie, lift with your legs, not your back! You'll thank me when you're my age and can still walk upright!"

"Mother, please!"

"I'm sorry, it's just that I've seen too many people my age who can't even pick up their grandchildren..."

"You're getting a little ahead of yourself there, Mama Lipsky," said Shego, who seemed to be having less trouble than Drakken moving into the apartment the two of them would be sharing while Dr. Director had the two of them at her every beck and call.

"You know, you two are adults...in a relationship...I wouldn't have had a problem if you had gotten a one-bedroom place."

"It's what they had, and what if we want visitors?" Shego really wanted to change the subject.

"I guess you're right." There was very little conversation for the rest of the time the three of them moved boxes into the new living quarters. Before long, everything was unpacked and Drew's mother went on her way.

"So, when does your professor-sitting resume?"

"Probably about the time that we decide we want to do something else, especially if we really start making plans," replied Shego.

"Well, I'm thinking about what I want to do to you...I mean, with you." Drakken was particularly flustered by this slip of the tongue, and Shego's approach did little to alter this.

"Andrew Theodore Phileas Lipsky...I never thought you had it in you. Maybe if you're good, we can break in the bed." Drakken was at a loss for words. Although this wouldn't be his first time overall, it was certainly something he had never thought would actually be happening with Shego. It took him a good minute or so to say anything, and even then, it was only one word.

"When?"

"I was thinking..." Shego's new phone began to dance off the nightstand. She picked it up and answered. "Betty, your timing is impeccable. A little too impeccable if you ask me. You don't have this place bugged, do you?"

"No. What makes you say that?"

"I know you. Now what is it you want?"

* * *

Ron stayed with the writers and Bonnie while Kim made her way to the airstrip, where Señor Senior, Senior was preparing to move the directorial candidates to their own holding solarium.

"Okay, Señor Senior, Senior, consider your hostages freed."

"Ah, Kim Possible. Taking time to reconnect with an old classmate? I fear you have made a grievous error in judgment. The abductions were nothing more than a little present for my son and perhaps his girlfriend, who has not taken as well to evil as I would have thought."

"Me neither."

"Anyway, my piranhas have been very lonely lately. Why don't you keep them company?" The old villain pulled out a small remote control and pressed a button. A vine-like cord wrapped itself around Kim. It pulled her to the ground and began reeling her towards a small pond about 100 feet away or so. Fortunately, she was being dragged across a smooth lawn, and grass stains really didn't show up on her mission clothes. In a few seconds, Kim was dangling headfirst over a pond with a small school of piranha who could not care less about her presence. She could see SSS repeatedly hitting another button on the remote, with no result. She turned back towards the main house and could see Bonnie standing there, apparently too engrossed in...something to notice what was going on. Ron, however, happened to glance out the window and saw Kim dangling.

"Um, Bonnie, your boyfriend's father..."

"Ugh, what did he do now?"

"You mean, other than give you an opportunity to swoop in and steal Junior's birthday present."

"IT'S MY GIFT TO HUMANITY!" yelled Bonnie. No one could argue this point.

"Kim is hanging upside down over a pond of some kind." Bonnie looked out the window.

"Oh, that's just the piranha pond," said Bonnie. Sensing Ron's panic, she quickly added, "Don't worry, they are well-fed. They won't go after her." Upon hearing this, Kim dropped into the pond and quickly swam back to land. She ran back to the house.

"Okay, Senior's had his fun, I'm calling GJ. Rides home for everybody. Except for Bonnie, I guess you're already home?"

"Yes and no."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I want to come with you."

* * *

Sheldon Director, who preferred to call himself Gemini, paced up and down the halls of his organization's headquarters. The Worldwide Evil Empire seemed to be drawing the attention of Global Justice in spite of his best efforts to maintain secrecy, at least based on the chatter he had been able to pick up.

"Agent Delta, one of my sister's lackeys seems to under a lot more protection lately."

"Who would that be?"

"Dr. John Rodgers. There is much to hate about him. He has willingly worked with my sister for more than a decade. He has at times been involved with my sister on a more personal level; either one of those alone is enough to put him high on my enemies list. But he is of no strategic value to us."

"How do we figure in?"

"Agent Epsilon has been monitoring high-level Global Justice meetings, thanks to the bugs installed by NOVA Electric and Plumbing's master electrician, good work on that by the way, and they believe we are behind the threats. It gives them an excuse to come in and root around here like the bunch of pigs they are. It's like Osama bin Laden's car having a taillight out." Delta pondered these developments, braced for possible severe pain, and put forth a plan.

"Sir, we have someone inside the academy already. I realize you weren't planning on activating him until next semester, when they actually start with the combat training, but suppose he were the one to uncover the truth about the threats? We're exonerated, he gains credibility..."

"I like your thinking process, but I don't like where it's leading you. Any communication between us and the intermediary is liable to be monitored, and if our agent is contacted by the intermediary, they can connect the dots given enough time. Our strike must be undertaken rapidly if it is to be successful." Gemini sensed that Delta was about to make a counterargument, so he finished his statement. "That being said, it would be good to find out who is behind these threats and stop them before my sister does."

"Won't she just send Kim Possible after them?"

"That could be. If we find out she's on it, we'll stand down. I think our chances against a bloated bureaucracy with someone like my little sister in charge are greater than against two guys, a girl and a naked mole rat. Everyone underestimates them. The only way to beat them is to bring them onto our side or to completely blindside them."

"You really think that she's going to join an organization with 'Evil' in the name?"

"When we get that far I will explain everything. I can be very persuasive when I'm right."

* * *

Global Justice sent three planes to the Seniors' island, one to transport Senior to a holding facility, one to fly the writers and directors back to Southern California and the third plane carrying Bonnie, Kim, Ron, Rufus and the Sloth.

"It's going to be a long flight back. Why don't you read the script?" Bonnie said to Kim. "You are going to have to wait; I only brought one copy."

"Bonnie, what exactly is going on here?"

"I thought you would be a little better at putting two and two together..."

"Hey!" Rufus did not enjoy Bonnie's tone of voice. Bonnie did not enjoy Rufus being in her pool or sharing a plane with her.

"But here's how it is; Señor Senior, Senior, abducted several writers and directors to give his son what he wanted for his birthday: fame."

"Okay, I got that far," said Ron.

"Given that Senior would probably try to incorporate it into some kind of cockamamie evil scheme, I swept in, deciding that my own needs trump those of either of the Seniors."

"But the important thing is that we stopped the bad guys," Ron chipped in. Bonnie nodded in assent.

"Seriously, B?" Kim was skeptical of Bonnie's motives. Bonnie paused for a moment, then broke into a mile-wide grin that seemed almost, well, genuine. Neither Kim nor Ron had seen that sort of thing from her.

"Okay, so maybe my motives aren't completely pure. Are yours?" Bonnie didn't give Kim a chance to retort before she continued. "Either way, if you two read the script our esteemed writer wrote, you'll understand why I came with you all." Bonnie snatched the script from Kim and gave it to Ron. As he read, Bonnie looked to the Global Justice Academy freshmen for reactions.

"I hope you know what you're getting into. I do have access to people who can help you get all the sorts of permission you are going to need, but there's a lot that even I can't help you with. As much is it pains me to say it, this is pretty good. And you know, I think you could pull it off." A look of consternation appeared on Ron's face. "But I need to talk it over with Ron. In private." Kim pulled Ron towards the back of the plane.

"Bonnie? Playing you? In a movie funded by Señor Senior, Senior?"

* * *

AN: Took a bit longer than I would have liked, but here it is. I have several other things going on as well, including an original work. Review and I shall make an effort to reply.


	11. Chapter 11

"You're just going to have to trust me. If I get someone else to scan your apartment, you'll just say that I told them to tell you there was nothing, or something else like that." Dr. Director had agreed to meet with Drakken and Shego at their new apartment. "There aren't any bugs here."

"Unless someone leaves food out. Dr. D!"

"What?" Drakken entered the room where Shego and Betty were meeting.

"Let's get this cleaned up." Drakken resisted at first, but Shego persisted.

"Do you want ants? Because that's how you get ants!"

"Consider yourself lucky we don't have fire ants around here. Our Atlanta office is overrun with them." Shego and the two doctors (one legitimate, one...less than legitimate) were there primarily to finalize the ex-villains' status with Global Justice. The general consensus was settling around giving them a longer leash overall, but stiffening penalties for any cases of recidivism. Outside of "protection of key Global Justice personnel," there would be no further obligations for the two of them at least until January, although any extra duties undertaken could lead to an increased stipend. Mostly this just entailed killing a small forest for the sheer level of paperwork.

"Besides, Betty and I are a lot closer to being on the same page here than you are with her. You need to hear about these things."

"What's to hear? You babysit Mister Hotshot Professor when he's up here and in a situation where you have to play his girlfriend, pretending I don't exist..."

"Wait, what? You think that's what this is about?"

"Given the terms of the lease, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"Please work out your relationship issues at another time," deadpanned Dr. Director. Suddenly, a new approach to the situation occurred to Drakken, one that he hoped Shego would catch on to in due time.

"That's really what it's all about, isn't it, Dr. D?" said the blue ex-villain.

"What are you talking about?"

"Much as I outsourced..."

"Stole."

"...necessary components of my evil schemes," he quickly interrupted himself with, "I'm not into that sort of thing anymore, on the straight and narrow now," before he got on with his story; "I submit to you that you are merely outsourcing protection detail because of something unresolved between you two." For a few seconds, no one said anything. Then Dr. Director spoke.

"You have your view of the situation, and I have mine," she said in a particularly clipped tone, one that she was much more accustomed to hearing from the likes of Will Du in his more arrogant period.

"Well, my view has depth perception, so there!"

"Dr. D, Dr. D. Let's try to be mature about this," said Shego.

"NO!" shouted Betty and Drew.

"If you don't start acting like adults, you can't drink like adults." This shut up the head of Global Justice immediately, and Drakken followed suit shortly thereafter, although this was more out of directly pleasing Shego as opposed to a fear of ethanol deprivation. As the evening wore on, the three of them seemed to mellow out and act civilized with one another.

* * *

The Global Justice jet was flying high over the East Coast on the way to Middleton. This was about 1500 miles west of where Bonnie wanted to be landing.

"Look, they don't even let us get any idea of where the campus is. All we know is that it's in Northern Virginia somewhere."

"But you do get there. And I'm sure that if your parents could get in there, you could get me and a film crew there as well."

"You...haven't been around a film set, really, have you?" Kim told Bonnie.

"Forget about that little failed production. I picked the director specifically because he called himself 'the anti-Blamhammer.' It's not going to be one of those movies where there's just a bunch of explosions for 90 minutes and a plot is just sort of thrown in along the way."

"Yeah, it'll be 90 minutes of you running around in slow motion, or jumping around a lot."

"This director also happens to have certain...preferences, so I don't think he'll care about that sort of thing, but I didn't think about that when I chose him." Bonnie was trying to be very careful, almost politically correct with her words, very unlike the cheerleader Kim and Ron had known in Middleton for too many years. There was an awkward pause for about a minute before Ron spoke.

"So, um, the whole ballet thing..."

"Let's just say I had an attitude problem with a lot of my colleagues."

"There's a shocker," whispered Kim underneath her breath.

"I was the only one who, you know, ate anything without offering it to the porcelain god immediately thereafter. Same reason I never tried to be a model."

"What about doing some shoots for publications with more...male interest?" suggested Ron, drawing a brief glare from Kim, before she relented, figuring that someone of Bonnie's physique could do very well in that line of work.

"Junior and I did not like the idea of a gazillion teenage boys and men with the minds of teenage boys eye-banging me."

"And this would be a change from the way things are now because..." Kim trailed off sardonically.

"When they're doing it in person, you can retaliate. Like this." Bonnie grabbed a lipstick from her bag and threw it at Ron. Although he didn't seem to be paying attention, he caught the projectile out of the air. He then stood up and walked over to Bonnie.

"I believe this is yours," he said, returning the cosmetic to its rightful owner. Bonnie found herself leering at Ron as he returned to Kim's side. Fortunately for Bonnie, Kim wasn't really paying attention. There were no real incidents for the remainder of the flight to Middleton.

"Where are we?" Bonnie was accustomed to landing at Tri-Cities Metropolitan Airport near Middleton.

"We are at a private airstrip about 30 miles east of Middleton," said the pilot. "Miss Possible will be providing any further transport you may need." He returned to the cockpit as the others climbed into the Sloth.

"Can I crash with you until one of Senior or Junior's people comes and gets me?"

* * *

"So, um, what do Global Justice people do for fun around here?" Drakken figured that he had get to know Dr. Rodgers as long as Shego was in charge of his safety at times.

"Bowling? There should be a bunch of assorted Global Justice-types there tonight."

"Yeah, that sounds good." In about a half hour, the two of them found themselves at Bowl's Bluff Lanes. A few Global Justice agents saw them. One, a brunette about Drakken's age, came up to the professor.

"Meeting the parent...er, boss, um...what exactly does the green bitch call you?"

"Her boyfriend." Drakken half-snarled.

"Maybe you should keep her on a shorter leash with this guy around," she said, pointing at Dr. Rodgers.

"What is she talking about?"

"Well, you know how Shego gets when she gets the sauce in her?"

"I have recently learned about that."

"The first time I ran into her after Betty decided I couldn't take care of myself was at a bar over by Dulles."

"Say no more. That explains a lot." Drakken's face turned severe as he confronted the agent who had called out Shego. "And if you call my girlfriend that again, say it to her face. Talk about a face-melting solo, and not the kind my cousin Ed likes."

"Easy there."

"Have a past with her?"

"I have a past with a lot of women. I don't bring it up unless they bring it up. You are not they, so I'm not bringing it up...OVER THE LINE!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"No, not you," the professor pointed at one of his colleagues, who from his angle appeared to have crossed the foul line.

"Oh, OK." Nonetheless, the allegedly-offending bowler came over to confront Dr. Rodgers.

"First of all, my foot was not over the line. Also, this game doesn't even count for anything."

"Every game counts for something, tangible or otherwise. I'll go ahead and take your word that it was just my angle, but watch yourself." The blue scientist just sort of stared at the GJA professor.

"Shego and Kim Possible seem to have quite a character on their hands," thought Drakken. The bowling itself actually went pretty well, at least for the person was starting to be called Drew Lipsky more and more often by former and current acquaintances alike.

"Drew, did you ever get shipped off to a prison with a bowling alley? You seriously waxed all of us. I'll get us a ride back."

"No, but there are still days I wish I could throw Frugal Lucre down an oiled wooden lane towards ten wooden pins. Or landmines, either way would suit me."

* * *

"I can't believe I'm letting you stay here...again...without you stuck to me." Bonnie was not going too far in making herself at home, much to Kim's relief. However, she felt it was better than having her go back with her mother and sisters. If anyone could bring back the old Bonnie, it would be them. Pretty much everyone she knew was out of town since GJA's fall break was the weekend after all the local schools, plus Kim would be more understanding of her boyfriend's lifestyle, if not his father's.

"And if your family asks, you're not here?" asked Dr. James T. Possible.

"I'd appreciate if you would tell them that," said Bonnie with a tinge of sadness. Just then, she heard a groan from the bathroom.

"TWEEBS!" Tim and Jim ran out into the living room, with Kim following close behind, carrying some electronic equipment. "There will be no hidden cameras in the guest bedroom, and there certainly won't be any in the guest shower!" Upon hearing this, Bonnie pulled Kim aside for a little girl-to-girl talk.

"You wouldn't happen to be open to teaching me a bit, you know, if they actually do make this movie, so I'm not completely lost. Also if I catch your brothers trying to make their own movies starring me without my permission, I need to provide a credible threat. Did I mention that if they start to get on my nerves, I'm staying at Ron's?"

"They. Will. Not. Get. On. Your. Nerves," Kim said emphatically. "Oh, by the way, he'll probably be here in the morning, just thought I'd warn you. Or he might stop by this evening, depending on how much his family wants to catch up with him."

"Must be nice, having someone like him," Bonnie mumbled.

"What?" Kim couldn't really hear what Bonnie said.

"Oh, nothing." Bonnie was thankful that Kim apparently didn't hear what she said about Ron, or at least was acting as though that were the case. Dinner followed shortly thereafter; although towards the tail end of the meal, the Tweebs whispered something to Kim. Her silent reaction to this seemed to be a mix of confusion and revulsion, but also a hint of understanding as well.

"What was that all about?" asked Mrs. Dr. Possible.

"I'm curious myself," added Bonnie, who was the first to finish. Just then, the doorbell rang. Bonnie began to get up to open the door, but it opened with Ron being led in, or possibly dragged in by Hana.

"Bonnie, you've met Hana, right?"

"Yeah, back when we were doing homecoming-related things, I think you had her with you."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Kim still smarted from how everything went down that week. "I'd still like to know how you could have pulled that off. Wade couldn't find anything."

"Because as far as I know, there was nothing to find," said Bonnie.

"Oh, really?" said Kim skeptically.

"Well, Ron Rieger told me that he voted for me. He seemed more confident that I would win than I was..." Kim and Ron glared at her. "You know, I've decided move past high school; It would be nice of you to do likewise...hey, where's Hana?"

"Bonnie, sometimes Global Justice agents get rather unusual tasks. Why don't you help us look?"

* * *

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Don Shelby."

"Oh, hey, I haven't heard from you in a while. What's up with that?"

"Well, being the CEO of a worldwide legitimate business empire can be quite time consuming."

"I can imagine so. Sorry if I sounded a little snippy back there."

"Don't worry about it. Are you staying on campus for fall break or are you going home?"

"I'm still on campus...I don't think I'm going to go home until Thanksgiving."

"All right, would you be open to meeting with me that Saturday or Sunday? I have something I need to discuss with you. It's not urgent time-wise, but it does need to happen, hence the month-and-a-half notice."

"OK. I can do that."

"Good. Just don't flunk out or get expelled before then, all right?"

"I'll try."

"Don't try, just do it, OK? Good-bye." Gemini hung the phone up, left his office and returned to the main command center. "There, I made contact with our agent on the inside. Happy now?"

"Yes, sir."

"Agent Delta, you have been an invaluable part of the Worldwide Evil Empire since you were Agent Chi. This is the first we have deviated from my plan. It had damn well better not blow up in our faces. Speaking of which, Agent Zeta, how are we coming along with acquiring the remaining components?"

"The heating oil was simple enough. The ammonium nitrate, on the other hand, has been slower in coming. The whole thing with stealing only a few pounds at a time..."

"Was designed specifically for the purpose of keeping anyone from finding out what we're up to until it happens," snapped Gemini. "I fear you may never understand how my little sister operates. At least until you get some rest. Have a seat." Zeta returned to his desk, and Gemini pressed a button on a remote he had hidden in his pocket. Steel bands emerged from various parts of the chair, holding down his arms and legs.

"Hey, at least I'm leaving in one piece."

"Right you are," said Gemini with a sneer. Just then, another band emerged, this one wrapped around the agent's neck, gradually tightening. He attempted to struggle for a few seconds, then fell unconscious. However, the band continued to tighten. It remained taut for several minutes. After what Gemini felt was sufficient to get the job done, he pressed another button on the remote, and all the bands retracted into the chair. Zeta slumped to the floor lifeless. For a minute, no one said or did anything.

"Well don't just sit there! Clean up this trash!" Two agents tentatively stood up and dragged the body out of the control room. "Let me be clear, this organization cannot and will not tolerate ignorance. If this plan fails, no one in this room will be a free man. But we have everything to gain. Okay, motivation over, get back to work." The not-so-happy few, the band of unrelated agents, prepared to go once more into the breach, or at least do some prep work towards that end. While Gemini's motivational methods could be gruesome, in this case they were effective.

* * *

A.N.: I just haven't had much time to work on this, plus I've been re-outlining the rest of the story. Nonetheless, review and I'll try to reply before the next chapter is up.


	12. Chapter 12

AN: More flashbacks in this chapter (they'll be italicized)

* * *

It was mid-morning in Middleton. Bonnie Rockwaller was doing everything in her power to make it out of bed before eleven. Why the difficulty? Well, it all started when Ron brought Hana over and wanted some time with just Kim. Bonnie agreed to keep Hana entertained for at least a little while.

"_Hey, what do you have there?" Bonnie noticed Hana trying to drink out of a cup._

"_Bonnie, have you seen my triple espresso?" Mrs. Dr. Possible came into the room and took the now-empty cup from Hana with a bit of dismay. "It was a venti, and I only got to have like one sip. Have fun, Bonnie!"_

Suffice to say, Bonnie saw something in Hana that she didn't expect. In fact, her first words of the morning were the same as her last words the night before:

"On the ceiling? On the ceiling!" She staggered downstairs, no less exhausted than she was when she was she had fallen asleep nearly eight hours earlier. She grabbed the pot of coffee from the machine and a mug, then promptly ignored the mug and began drinking the coffee straight from the pot, finishing the half-full pot in about 30 seconds.

"Welcome to my final semester at Middleton High School," said Ron.

"There's a private jet with my name on it on its way to the airport. Junior also sprung for a limo. It is going to be so nice to be the served rather than the servant."

"Oh, and about the whole movie thing," said Kim, "one of our professors is going to be in town over Christmas. He and Barkin go back more than a few years. Maybe you and some of the people involved in the movie could meet with him then."

"OK, whatever." Bonnie glanced out the window and saw a black limousine stopping in front of the Possible residence. "Well, I'm out. Good to see everyone!" She dashed outside and was back into her old lifestyle within thirty seconds, Kim speculated.

"Bonnie's still herself, but she's getting better," said Ron. "So, anyway, do you think this is actually going to go through? Or is Senior going to try to put Junior in a reboot of the _Bricks of Fury_ franchise?"

"The Seniors would be doing this as a labor of love, not to make money. While I feel there still is a market for vigilante justice through the use of cinder blocks, I can see Bonnie dragging both of them into her star vehicle kicking and screaming."

"And the Seniors might not be too keen on the idea either," added Ron.

Kim then changed the subject. "So we have one more day before we need to go back to school. Now that Bonnie is out of our hair for a little while, what do you want to do?"

"I have an idea, but..." Ron glanced at Jim and Tim who had just entered the kitchen, "...we should probably discuss it in more private quarters." Kim had a good feeling about what the discussion would entail.

* * *

_One by one, the photos were laid out on the table. For all of Global Justice's technology, having the hard copies_ _out there would have a greater impact. Houses and schools in ruins. Gurneys carrying away far-too-small bodies to await identification. Arenas and convention centers turned to hospitals, shelters and morgues._

"_And we're simply willing to let bygones be bygones?" said Will Du._

"_Because of their actions, they prevented this scene from being repeated scarcely one year later, this time the world over. Assuredly, their crimes should not be forgotten, which is why I brought forth the possibility of a VERY conditional pardon." Dr. Elizabeth Director at least convinced enough higher-ups that a pardon was in everyone's best interest to prevent a palace coup. Nonetheless, there was still dissent. "With all due respect, no pun intended, I doubt there will be another opportunity for villains of their magnitude to perform acts that would merit so much as a few years off for good behavior."_

Andrew Theodore Phileas Lipsky was hardly distinguishable from the others on the Global Justice Academy campus, owing largely to his sunglasses that covered most of the top half of his face. The unusually cold but sunny October morning gave him an excuse to wear a hooded sweatshirt; thus no one could discern his unorthodox skin tone without much closer inspection than anyone cared to provide. It would be just his luck that he would literally run into one of the few people who would scrutinize him.

"What are you doing here?" said Agent Du in a tone of voice that seemed to say, "I still expect you to switch back to villainy, and you'll wish Lucre was your cell mate where you're going to end up."

"I work here now, remember? Besides, Shego wants me to shed a few pounds. And she has me kicked out of our apartment for another twenty minutes."

"Too sedentary to build your own evil devices, yet acting on the whims of your girlfriend?"

"And you wouldn't? On both counts?" Will looked dumbfounded for a moment, realizing that he was right. "Outsourcing" as practiced by Drakken was an effective means of utilizing scarce resources, and if Will had someone like Shego in his life, or any sort of relationship, he would improve himself for her. He thought about warning the ex-evil scientist about the effect of working for Global Justice on one's love life, but decided against it. The two of them kept going their separate ways. By the time Drakken returned to his and Shego's apartment, she was in the shower. Drakken unplugged his phone from the charger; he had one missed call from Dr. Director. Apparently she had left a message on his voicemail. He called and listened to it.

"Lipsky, I would like to see you alone in my office sometime this morning. Try to keep this meeting from Shego. Don't worry about Dr. Rodgers for today. He is en route to a conference in Nebraska. That last bit, you can tell Shego about." Drakken decided he'd go ahead and head over to Dr. Director's office now, before Shego could find any reason for him not to. Barely ten seconds after Drakken left once again, Shego emerged from the bathroom.

"Drew, was that...I guess it was," Shego said, noticing that his phone, which he had left before his run was no longer in the apartment. "Guess I'll find out about my babysitting duties for today." She called Dr. Director, expecting her to pick up, and was particularly disappointed with her when she didn't. This had lately become a pattern, so Shego left a voicemail. "You damned well better not use this against me. Remember, you're avoiding me, I'm not avoiding you!" After she hung up, she briefly wondered if the last few seconds of her message were a step too far. "Nah, she'll just think it was classic me and let it go. And if not, well, there's nothing a little sparring can't fix."

* * *

"Once more through the rigamarole," sighed Kim. Her trips to and from the Global Justice Academy were seemed to be growing exponentially more ridiculous. She returned to her near-campus house after Andrea, but before Marina and Victoria (as she decided she wanted to be called now, for some reason.) She was in no mood for conversation or much of anything other than collapsing into bed. But Andrea would have none of that.

"You think that's bad?" said Andrea. "At least you don't have to cross any international borders. MI6 really could teach these people a thing or two."

"At least most of the way, you're just on an international flight, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah, but..."

"You ever been shipped bulk rate in a C-130?"

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"I don't always have people owing me favors. I find a way to get where I'm needed regardless luxury or lack thereof." See as neither of the redheads was in a particularly talky mood, Kim headed for Ron's house. No one else was home, but there was evidence of habitation, though not necessarily civilization. Every step Kim took was accompanied by the crunch of the remnants of assorted snack foods.

"Ron!"

"It was like that when I got here!" A voice emanated from one of the bathrooms. "I'll be done in a minute, KP! Actually, is there a vacuum at your house?"

"I never thought I'd live to hear it; Ron actually wanting to clean up." Ron emerged from the bathroom looking refreshed.

"There is a time for sarcasm, and, um, this probably counts. I mean, this is exactly how you get ants. But seriously, do you all have a vacuum cleaner, or do I have to use my Smarty Mart employee discount when I go back to work tomorrow?"

"Both, actually. We do have one you could borrow, but you probably should go ahead and get one. In fact, maybe we should hit the Smarty Mart shuttle this evening."

"Changed my mind, I'm staying with you tonight. I had no part in the mess..."

"And we have no part in a lot of the messes that get made in the world, but we clean them up anyway! It's what we do, it's who we are!" Ron didn't expect Kim to be so passionate about housekeeping, but he had his own ace up his sleeve when it came to domesticity.

"I'll do all the cooking as long as you let me stay." Upon hearing this, Kim more or less dragged Ron over to her house, now completely occupied. The other three young women eyed Ron with suspicion, or at least what Kim hoped was only suspicion. It was then that Ron defused the situation as only he could.

"Hi, I'm Ron, I'll be your waiter and chef this evening. Our special is the whatever you happen to have in the fridge." Kim's usually stoic housemates lit up.

"We should have everything for chicken tikka masala in the fridge; it'll be good to have a taste of home," said Andrea. Everyone looked at her oddly except for Ron.

"What? If your country had the culinary history of mine, you'd adopt another cuisine in a heartbeat."

* * *

"I've been running intelligence on this John Rodgers fellow," said Agent Lambda. He was one of Sheldon Director's rising stars, or at least was not doing anything to get fired while those ahead of him fell victim to various furniture-related mishaps.

"Anything useful so far?" asked Gemini. He had recently had a few rather messy days and was looking forward to some good news.

"Well, we tried to tail him while he was relatively lightly watched this weekend. The problem is, you go around Omaha looking for a John, or Johnny, or some other form of the name Rodgers, people get all defensive, or they go on the offensive, or something like that." Gemini was not entirely sure what his agent was trying to hint at here, but he was starting to think that he would need to get the paperwork ready to promote Agent Mu.

"I see, and I repeat my question. Anything useful so far?"

"I do not believe that it is his birth name."

"What makes you say that?" said Gemini, discreetly moving his hand towards a hidden button under his desk.

"I can find no record of his name more than fifteen years old."

"Keep track of him, but stay at a distance. Were you able to find out who actually has been threatening him?"

"Mobsters?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"I'm not asking you; I'm just throwing ideas out there."

"No, my little sister would have brought down the whole family by now. But you may be on to something, he could be in witness protection. Find out the earliest record of his existence and see who went off the grid just before that."

"Good plan, I'll get on it."

"Of course it's a good plan," thought Gemini to himself. "If it weren't, Betty or one of her flunkies would have come up with it." While he had been having a rough couple of days, the one-eyed would-be overlord (or should-be, in his eyes) felt really good about his scheme as a whole.

"Sir, we have completed explosives acquisition."

"Well done, Agent Delta. Or should I say Agent Gamma." Sheldon had allowed the most recent Gamma to eject himself from the compound in exchange for being the successful test subject for a memory erasing device. "Based on these changes, I feel that we can advance the timetable of our plan. Contact our agent. Operation Virus is going on ahead of schedule."

"And under budget!" added the new Agent Gamma.

* * *

"Dr. Lipsky, thank you for coming by on such short notice. I'll try to be brief, so we don't have anyone wondering where you've gotten off to. I got a rather testy message from Shego today."

"In other words, you got a message from Shego." Drakken removed the redundancies from Dr. Director's statement. "Besides, she decided today would be even more of a me day than usual."

"Trouble at the new apartment?"

"I'm glad you didn't say 'trouble in paradise.' It's cliched and no one ever means it. But anyway, it's just that we've never shared a living space that small for that long."

"Well, you have two choices. You can get used to it, or you can take that which I am about to offer you."

"I'm listening."

"Over the years we have confiscated all sorts of doomsday devices from a wide variety of sources, yourself included. Many of them had self-destruct mechanisms, others were damaged in structural failures, while some are completely intact and we don't know what's wrong with them."

"And you would like for me to repair, rebuild, what have you?"

"Precisely."

"And the reason you want me to keep this from Shego is that..." Drakken was hoping that Dr. Elizabeth Director would be able to provide a palatable answer.

"The brass other than myself and a few others still are reluctant to trust you. Putting you and her in the same room with weapons that could be used in an attempt to take over the world is too much for them to handle."

"Well, can't you just replace the brass? I mean, you are the boss. I saw the video you made for the new students."

"The brass can replace me, and removing one more term from your pardons would give them the excuse they are seeking."

"So what should I tell her when I go off from nine to five each day? That I'm working with Stoppable at Smarty Mart? She goes there occasionally, you know."

"As do a million others in this part of Virginia. Your official title will be associate professor. You start teaching in January."

"Wait, what?"

"OK, you're worried about the brass being worried about me working with Shego, but you're not worried about them worrying about me dealing directly with cadets?"

* * *

AN: Major events to happen soon, I hope. My writing schedule is going to be a bit more erratic than usual; Memorial Day would be a good time to expect the next chapter. Review and I shall probably respond.


	13. Chapter 13

The cold November rain hung over Northern Virginia like a shroud. No one had seen the sun in more than a week, unless they had left the area. On days like these, Dr. Drakken was thankful that his work environment for the remainder of the semester was in a windowless building, a cross between a laboratory, a workshop and a warehouse. He quite enjoyed the lack of interaction with others; it was just him and the machines. All he was obligated to do was provide occasional (two or three times a week) reports to one Doctor Elizabeth Director or one of her hand-picked subordinates. Today, the subordinate was someone who looked a few years older than Kim and Ron, but he said that he was a first-year student.

"So, um, what did this do?" he asked the blue-skinned scientist. Drakken looked at the metallic Rube Goldberg-like device and recognized it immediately from around three years ago.

"This one was supposed to be foolproof! And I would have been the supreme ruler of the world if not for a couple of meddling kids and a hairless rodent."

"Okay, whatever dude. What was it supposed to do?"

"This was designed to send out a radio signal that would allow me to commandeer the world's aircraft. Of course, Kim Possible saw to it that I would not have that opportunity."

"Yeah, I've seen her around," said the cadet, "but I've never really had a reason to deal with her."

"I hope you don't mind me asking about this, but you seem a bit older than the other first-year students I've seen here."

"Well, I didn't come here straight out of high school, I was working...hang on, there's someone at one of the entrances. Do you want me to take care of it?"

"If you wouldn't mind," said Drakken. The cadet walked to the entrance. There was a delivery truck there."

"Hi, we're here to replace the snack machine in one of the buildings here."

"Um, there isn't a snack machine in this building. If you go back towards the entrance...hang on." The cadet paused for a minute. He had never seen an outside vehicle on campus, so the presence of one raised suspicions. "Hang on, let me call someone with more authority here than I." He soon realized he was talking to nobody. The truck had already left the snack machine behind.

"What was all that then?" Drew stepped outside. "I didn't order a vending machine."

"I don't think anyone here did. Maybe you should call Dr. Director about this."

"Let's go ahead and move it inside. It at least probably has some good parts I can use, and besides, it won't be doing anyone any good if it gets too wet. Go get a hand truck and some straps."

"Yes, sir."

"You don't work for me yet, there's no need to call me sir."

"Sorry, force of habit."

* * *

Neither Kim nor Ron had any more classes for the afternoon. It seemed that even their professors weren't fans of going anywhere in this weather. Ron wasn't due at Smarty Mart for a couple of hours, so they figured it was a perfect day to spend indoors and celebrate the fact that Ron's housemates had finally decided to clean up the place.

"I don't want to go to work today," said Ron. "I've been stuck working with snakes pretty much since fall break, so I haven't had as much assistance as I usually get from a certain naked mole rat. I mean, it's good that my manager is letting Rufus work with me, but still..."

"Is that really why you don't want to work today?" Kim asked, her hands wandering slowly across assorted parts of Ron.

"You certainly are giving me reason to find something else to do from 4 until midnight tonight. Perhaps you could be that something else I..." Ron found it hard to talk when he was pinned to his couch, Kim's lips entangled with his. After a good thirty seconds, Kim finally gave Ron a chance to breathe.

"Lately I've been growing less and less a fan of clothing," said Kim, her hands reaching downward. Ron held her up for a second.

"My housemates could be home any minute now..." Ron sensed the possibility of a certain particularly persuasive facial expression, so he added, "...so why don't I take us up to more, um, intimate quarters?"

"Yes," Kim breathed. She allowed Ron to sweep her up and carry her upstairs. They stumbled through the door to the bedroom at the end of the short hallway, practically falling into bed.

"You know, maybe we should do this in my bedroom." They stumbled back out the door and into the room across from the bathroom. This one actually was Ron's.

"I don't want any disruptions today," said Kim, taking her Kimmunicator and removing the battery. She is about to do the same with Ron's when it goes off.

"Kim!" said Wade, a siren blaring in the background. "Your Kimmunicator went off-line."

"I know. I pulled the battery. We're, um, doing a stealth exercise. We need to be off grid for a few hours."

"Stealth exercise? From Ron's bedroom?" Wade asked, smirking.

"Look, we haven't had any us time in the past month. Just let Dr. Director know that we'll be back available for whatever...soon." Kim nearly barked these orders at Wade.

"Understood. I will inform her of your needs."

"Please and thank you." said Kim. As soon as Wade was cut off, Kim pulled the battery from Ron's device.

"No distractions. No disruptions." Kim and Ron resumed their previous activities.

* * *

"Dr. Lipsky, this had better be important."

"It could be."

"A delivery truck left a vending machine outside my laboratory. I couldn't find a record of such an order."

"Hold on one second. I can tell you that a delivery truck was authorized to be on campus property. But you're right, no record of any vending machine requisitions. Should I send a team over?"

"Nothing too noticeable, Betty."

"I'm not sure we're on a first-name basis yet, Drew...yeah, I'm not quite feeling it."

"Give it time. Actually, is Kim Possible available? Or her sidekick, he's good at pointing out obvious things I miss."

"No, she and Ron are doing a stealth exercise," Betty fibbed. "I already have a team of actual agents en route." This sentence was true. The agents arrived barely a minute after Drakken got off the phone with Dr. Director. They took out some instruments which began beeping and clicking as soon as they were activated. Then they ran the instruments over Drakken, with similar results.

"Mr. Lipsky, how are you feeling?" said one of the agents.

"I was fine most of the day, but ever since the machine arrived, I've been feeling a little queasy." When Drakken said this, the oldest-looking of the agents pressed a big red button on his communication device.

"Agent Weiss, what is your emergency?"

"We have a code R1, code R3 and a code X. Prepare a decontamination unit." Weiss then grabbed Drakken's Global Justice-provided watch and opened a small panel.

"What's going on here?"

"We detected explosive residue on the machine..."

"What, is this a bomb or something?"

"That, or it's supposed to dispense fertilizer and fuel oil...and something radioactive. We need to get you out of here, we need the bomb defused, and we need everyone we can get." The seasoned agent was loathe to panic, but if anything merited such actions, now was the time.

"Where is, um, I don't even remember his name, my Director-appointed assistant? Forgive me, I've always been terrible with names."

"You would have been the last to see him."

"He got a call just after that thing was dropped off here...actually, I haven't seen him since then."

* * *

"Are you still there?" Patrick Seay, the beneficiary of Don Shelby's largesse and recommendation to the admission board of the Global Justice Academy, was on the phone with his benefactor. His revelations to the cadet had left him speechless. Gemini couldn't even hear his agent on the inside breathing.

"Yeah, I mean this is all just so...I can't believe what you're telling me."

"What do you mean by that?" The one-eyed head of the Worldwide Evil Empire wondered whether this was too much, too soon.

"Well, for starters, you say you are not Don Shelby, but Sheldon Director, the twin brother of the director of Global Justice."

"She will tell you the same. I'm the older one and I never let an opportunity to remind her of that go to waste." Both parties chuckled at this little anecdote. "If I don't get a chance to see Betty, do tell her I said hello if she is involved in your debriefing."

"And I'm also supposed to believe you're the one who sent a radiological bomb onto the campus of the Global Justice Academy as part of your own plan to demonstrate holes in their security plan, completely without her knowledge and permission?"

"That's not exactly true about why I did this. It would probably be better that I explain in person."

"Well, seeing as I am probably going to be a person of interest in this debacle, that might be a while."

"As my plan unfolds, you will see that it is not a debacle."

"I hope to see some sign of that soon."

"You will. In fact, when everything falls into place, you will be working alongside me and Kim Possible herself."

"Really?" Patrick's interest perked up a bit, drowning out some of his initial skepticism. "I mean, I've seen her around, but I don't have any classes with her. I do have a Monday morning lab with Stoppable, but neither of us is awake enough to actually interact with each other."

"Yes, really. Kim and Ron will be with us or against us. And when they know the truth about Global Justice, they will be with us. I have work to do. I look forward to seeing you soon." Gemini turned off his phone. He did feel a little bad about making promises to Patrick he could not guarantee he could keep. Such was the cost of being the leader of the Worldwide Evil Empire. He staked his life's work to this plan; he had everything to gain and everything to lose.

Patrick saw someone in a radiation suit coming towards him. "I was already checked out. They said I was clean. I just needed to keep away from the machine."

"That's true, but we will need to get you down to interrogation to get your statement. The sooner you start talking, the sooner we can get to the bottom of this. Your agency-appointed counsel will be arriving shortly, you don't have to say anything until he or she arrives."

* * *

"I...needed...that." Kim was still short of breath. "I had an itch..."

"Did I scratch it?" Ron asked, just as winded.

"Yes," breathed Kim. "Well, we'd better tell Wade we're finished with our, um, stealth exercise." Kim plugged the battery back into her Kimmunicator. Immediately the device lit up, indicating at least one missed call.

"That better not have been that important," said Ron as he stepped out of the room for a moment to give Kim some privacy. Kim checked the message. It was from Will Du. "Miss Possible, as soon as you receive this message, Dr. Director would like to see you and Mr. Stoppable. It's not anything urgent, but do contact her or myself as soon as possible." Kim first called Global Justice's one-time self-proclaimed Number One agent.

"Miss Possible, I hope your stealth exercise went well," Will said slyly. He then adopted his usual business-like tone. "During your down time, we had a situation develop."

"What's the sitch?"

"We received what appears to be a radiological bomb of some kind. Don't worry, we have defused the bomb and are in the process of decontaminating everyone and everything that came into contact with. We are preparing to interrogate everyone involved, and Dr. Director has requested your presence." Kim was suddenly stricken with guilt, saying nothing for a few seconds.

"Are you still there?"

"Y-Yes. I'll be there in a few minutes." Kim nearly lost her composure. What if there had been an actual emergency during her and Ron's activities? Just based on Will's description of the day's events, things could have been far worse than they were. Part of her didn't want to even want to be there, but she knew she would have to face Dr. Director sooner or later.

"Hey, Kim. What was...is everything OK?"

"Dr. Director wanted to see me." Even Ron could tell something was seriously wrong.

"There's something more to this you're not telling me."

"Yes, there is, but I really don't have time to talk about it right now." Kim retreated to the bathroom, trying to make herself presentable to the director of Global Justice. Time was not on her side; she jumped in the shower for not even five minutes and yet she thought she was just stalling for time. She threw on the first clothes she saw and burst out the door, downstairs and out of the house. Ron followed closely behind.

"Ron, I probably need to do this alone. Also, you need a shower before you do anything. I can smell what we were doing. I'll call you if I need you, or Dr. Director or Will get in touch with you. I love you."

"Love you, too, KP." yelled Ron as he ran back upstairs.

"Are you ready to begin?" Dr. Director would be the only one taking a statement. Kim and Agent Du were just outside the room, acting as observers.

"This isn't going to take long, is it?" Patrick was across the table from Dr. Director. He seemed a little nervous, his agency-appointed attorney sitting beside him in silence.

"That all depends on what you have to say. I would like for you to start by telling us about what happened today from the time the 'vending machine' arrived to the time you were brought here."

"Mr. Lipsky sent me inside to get some equipment to help him move the vending machine. When I went inside, my mentor called me."

"Your...mentor?" asked Betty hesitantly. "What is his name?"

"Well, until today, he had told me it was Donald Shelby." For the next part, the freshman was trying hard not to laugh. "But, and you're not going to believe this, it turns out it's your twin brother!" He couldn't see Kim's shocked expression through the one-way glass, but he could see the look on Dr. Director's face. It was unchanged upon the revelation.

"Was this the first time that he mentioned such a thing?"

"Yes. He's not lying, is he?"

"He is telling the truth. Now, what more has he told you? We have quite a file on him and I can tell you whether he has been honest with you. Knowing him, I imagine that he has, but he does have a tendency to leave things out."

"He said there was some sibling rivalry going on, and that he was the older of the two of you."

"So far, so true."

"He also said that it was his life's dream to have someone inside the Global Justice Academy."

"Again, that's true. But let me hurry things up and show you what we have on him. Will, upload everything we have on the Worldwide Evil Empire." Patrick froze when he heard this. His lawyer whispered something in his ear.

"My lawyer has told me not to say anything more at this time."

"All right, now please watch this video. This is the real Sheldon Director." Will started the playback, which consisted primarily of surveillance taken inside one of Gemini's lairs. Patrick tried to cringe, averting his eyes from shot after shot of henchmen being disposed of in increasingly elaborate and painful-looking ways.

"So, um, what will happen to him?" asked Kim.

"That all depends on what he is willing to do for us," said Will. "If he..."

"Kim, I need to see you and Ron in my office." Kim could have sworn that Dr. Director emerged from the interrogation room using a far harsher tone of voice than she had used on the potential traitor. Betty hadn't, but Kim began to wonder whether her allies would do more damage to her relationship with Ron than her enemies.

* * *

Note from ye Author: It took me a month and a half to have enough time to write this, but this month looks better. A few things from the outline for the next chapter, which may or may not make the final product:

Shego reacts to Drakken

Relationship vs. Global Justice

Ammo against Gemini?

Review and I shall respond.


	14. Chapter 14

Ron made his way to the Dr. Director's office as quickly as he could. Kim and Betty were already waiting for him.

"Glad you could stop by. The three of us need to have a bit of a talk." Kim rarely was this intimidated by authority figures, or any figures for that matter. Ron, on the other hand, was his usual self.

"WHYYY? HAVEN'T YOU EVER BEEN IN LOVE BEFORE?"

"Snap out of it!" yelled Dr. Director. This was the first time all day that she had raised her voice at anyone.

"You took the words right out of my mouth, ma'am," said Kim. "Ron, perhaps you should step outside for a second." When Ron stood up, Kim swatted his buttocks hard enough to echo throughout the room.

"Please try to have a little decorum," said Dr. Director in a tone more befitting her so-called "Number One" agent.

"Sorry about that. I've found that sometimes that's all it takes to get his to focus on the task at hand."

"I see. Miss Possible, Mister Stoppable, I think I speak for everyone at Global Justice when I say that the last situation in which we want to see you is one where you are choosing between each other and your work. That being said, I believe that recent events better illustrate the difficulty in maintaining romantic relationships as part of Global Justice more than any lecture from myself or any of our agents possibly could. You were lucky that we were able to manage the situation with available personnel during your, um, 'stealth mission,' but that will not always be the case. We do have an old-fashioned siren system that covers the residential areas of campus, but we feared that utilizing the system in this situation would have created more panic than was merited."

"We understand," said Kim.

"We knew this could be a possibility when we decided to bring you both here. We can't pretend you're not human. It will require maintaining a delicate balance, and, well, ensuring that certain protective measures are taken. I don't think you two want a permanent souvenir of your actions just yet."

"What is she talking about?" whispered Ron to Kim. She answered his question by addressing the one-eyed protector of the free world.

"Ever since my sophomore year of high school, I have taken precautionary measures, not only in case male supervillains got any ideas, but also to keep things on a regular schedule."

"Um...oh, THAT kind of permanent souvenir. I'm going to have to remember that one. Yeah, none of that for a while." Kim nodded in agreement.

"Now that family planning issues have been resolved, let me bring Agent Du in for the next item on the agenda." Just as she was about to step outside to retrieve him, Will walked in the door.

"Well, that was fortuitous timing."

"Quite. Possible, Stoppable, I presume you two are doing well after your 'stealth mission.'" Kim groaned at Will's somewhat lecherous tone.

"That bad, eh?" Before Kim or Ron could correct him, Betty spoke up.

"Let's concentrate on the actual threat now, okay? We have had an apparent associate of the head of the Worldwide Evil Empire on the campus of our academy for the better part of the semester. We are currently holding him a couple of floors below us; we will resume interrogation this evening. As far as Sheldon knows, Patrick's cover is still intact."

"There generally has been little communication between the two of them while he is on campus, but there may be a meeting in the near future. I recommend that he be released on personal recognizance. We will need to prepare him for the possibility that his cover may be blown, or that Gemini will have turned him against our organization."

"Why don't we tail him?" asked Ron. "He said that Gemini was the one who set up us the bomb. He leads us to him, he can go with us quietly or make a scene, book him, Betty, problem solved."

"He will not go quietly," said Dr. Director bluntly. "He'll blow himself up and take an entire city with him before he lets me put him in a cell."

"I have another idea," said Kim. "It's a little more complicated, but I think it's a little more likely to work."

* * *

"So, how is he?" asked Shego, uncharacteristically concerned for someone else's well-being.

"The dose of radiation he received should only have temporary acute effects," said a doctor. "However, he will likely need more frequent cancer screenings, particularly thyroid cancer. One thing I have yet to get out of him, which would be exceedingly helpful, is precisely how he came about his skin tone."

"That's a problem, seeing as he doesn't even know."

"I figured that out, I was wondering if you perhaps had some answers for us."

"Your guess is as good as mine. Dr. D. never really believed in documenting his work. He was blue when I met him, the only time I can recall when he has not been blue was a brief incident involving one of Jack Hench's devices. Drained the evil right out of him and into Stoppable."

"I actually heard about that one. At least it was him and not Kim Possible." Shego shuddered a bit when thinking about what could have happened if Kimmie had turned evil.

"Well, as far as I know, I am not immune to the effects of radiation, and, well, look at me." The doctor turned his glance towards the woman standing before him. "Not there!" she snarled.

"I wasn't!" he yelled nervously.

"Sorry about that; I should be used to it. There's only so much anger management can do for me. You may resume your ogling."

"If you insist." The doctor resumed, but this time a green flame engulfed one of Shego's hands. He could have sworn he saw a raised middle finger through the flame.

"At what point am I actually going to be able to see him?"

"If you wouldn't mind putting out the open flame in the presence of oxygen tanks," said the doctor. Shego quickly complied, then the doctor continued. "You probably won't want to be near him for a few days, and unless you want him to go home naked, you are probably going to want to bring him some non-irradiated clothing."

"I'll do that."

"By the time you're back, I could have things set up so you two could have a private video conference. Would you like that?"

"Sure, whatever, just get it done or else." Shego left the infirmary and headed back to her and Drakken's apartment. When she arrived, she collapsed on the couch, intending to take a brief nap. The whole day had been terribly draining physically and emotionally, at least since discovering what had happened to Drakken. She couldn't seem to relax; her heart was racing but she couldn't drag herself to her feet. All those years of mad science, and only when he turns good does anything actually bad happen to him. Kimmie never had to worry about whether Ron would get turned into a tumor incubation chamber. Sure, she had a prom night ruined, but that was one night when monkeys on typewriters made Shakespeare. If only someone understood what she was going through.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. You want me to pose as this guy's girlfriend as he meets with a supervillain. So that he won't try anything?" Bonnie Rockwaller was laying out on Señor Senior, Senior's yacht somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

"Hey, I didn't think it was a particularly good idea at first either," said Agent Du. "But it is the best idea we have been able to generate, and time is not on our side."

"Then get better idea people," sneered Bonnie. "Is Kim there?" Will temporarily muted his phone.

"Miss Possible, are you here? Miss Rockwaller wants to know." She nodded and Kim took the handset from Will.

"K, can you tell your superiors to come up with better ideas?"

"As a matter of fact, B, this was my idea."

"Oh, that is just classic you!" Kim could have sworn she heard Bonnie roll her eyes. "Put me in danger while you and your lackeys hunker down a mile away in some bunker."

"Miss Rockwaller, I assure you we will be within ten seconds of the rendezvous point," said Will. "Gemini is Dr. Director's twin brother. She knows what he will and won't try to pull."

"If you had met my sisters, you'd understand why I would be a bit skeptical about trusting that one's siblings would act one way or another."

"If anything happens, you can think of it as research towards your role," offered Ron. "Or if nothing happens. Either way, it will be good pre-release publicity."

"Let me consult with the producer." Bonnie put down her phone. Around a minute later she picked it up again. "I'm going to put him on, okay."

"Hello, Elizabeth." Señor Senior, Senior's evil plans rarely required the attention of Global Justice, but she had some experience with the billionaire.

"Well, better you than Lurman."

"What he lacks in class, he has in his inability to stop talking. But anyway, I'm a little wary of placing your potential future daughter-in-law in such a prominent position in such an important mission."

"I heard that!" said Bonnie.

"Sheldon likes to avoid collateral damage. That being said, I do not see any reason to risk the next megastar when you don't even know that he knows that you know for whom he works."

"Wait, how do you know?"

"I have been in occasional contact with your brother. He had originally sought to use one of Kimberly's high school acquaintances in his plan."

"I see. Is Miss Rockwaller one of the ones he approached?"

"No, but he probably knows who I am; that's why I shouldn't be a part of this. I do, however, want to be a part of something with Global Justice in the future. You know, to give my work more authenticity. I'll be in touch again. Peace!" Bonnie ended the call before anyone else could get the last word in. After a minute, Will spoke up.

"Well, that was a colossal waste of time."

* * *

"Yes, that little snippet of information will be quite useful to us, Agent Kappa." Gemini was beaming. Two of his bugs inside Global Justice facilities had given him more ammunition to use against his little sister. In addition, one of his agents had discovered a little more about one of his sister's lackeys. This would allow the Worldwide Evil Empire to gain a little more leverage. On the other hand, he was fairly sure he'd have to burn his agent on the inside of the Global Justice Academy; no matter, he was expendable anyway. He felt compelled to call a few more members of his inner circle in for another meeting as things would be moving at a fast and furious pace soon.

"Gentlemen, I have been forced to adapt our plans due to several changes in circumstances. Thanks to our information gathering, we have learned that while our agent on the inside has been found out, we have succeeded in leaving Betty scrambling for ideas. We have also learned, thanks to one of the agents in this very room, that we have access to a little more collateral than we thought we had. I will be dispatching a team to a location in the Pacific Ocean to be determined later."

"Now, when you say more collateral, what do you mean?" asked Agent Eta.

"There is a yacht in the Pacific. The team I will be dispatching will ensure that the boat leaves its next port of call with one fewer passenger."

"And what of our agent on the inside?" asked Agent Lambda.

"We shall ensure he is properly dealt with; he signed the same contract that all of you have signed. If Betty does anything I wouldn't do, that will be on that organization's conscience. Now if you will excuse me, I need to contact my agent in private." The other agents left the room while Gemini called up Patrick.

"Oh, hello, _Gemini_." Patrick did not seem to be in a good mood.

"I can tell my sister told you what they had on me. What I have on her is entirely different in one key way. It's true."

"So, the whole thing with you being the leader of the Worldwide Evil Empire..."

"A complete fabrication."

"Assorted henchmen being, um, disposed of..."

"Again, a lie. For all of my sister's failings, she knows how to get great special effects people to do her bidding. I can show you how it all works sometime. Why don't you stop by my office in a couple of days; I can introduce you to some very interesting people."

"Slight problem; they're not letting me leave campus unless I wear a wire. They want to see what I see, especially if it's the inside of your, um, headquarters."

"Go along with it...are they monitoring this call?"

"I don't know, if they are they probably won't let me go."

"True, I'd go ahead and continue playing dumb. Act like what they've told you about me is true. Pretend that I don't know that they know. It's for the best for everyone. Trust me."

* * *

"Can you give us some privacy?" Shego asked the Global Justice nurse in Drakken's room to leave.

"Sure thing. But it might be a while; I have to change out of my bunny suit. I can't really hear anything in the airlock, so if you want to go ahead and start, I won't be listening."

"It's all right, Shego," said Drakken. "If there's anything you don't want anyone else to hear, I'm feeling a lot better but still really worn out, so if you could try to save the really heavy stuff for when I get home."

"Sure, fine, whatever." After an awkward bit of silence, she continued. "So, um, has Global Justice interrogated you much?"

"No, they just took a quick statement. I understand they're giving the other guy quite a grilling."

"I was about to grill him myself," muttered Shego, briefly flaring up.

"Shego, I don't even know if he knew anything. And if he did, Betty's probably going to make the rest of his life short and hellish."

"I'll be with her on that," said Shego coldly. "Even if it violates the terms of my pardon."

"I can see her bending the rules in that case. I mean, she does it all the freaking time for Kim Possible and her bunch." Shego was taken aback by Drew's use of even a mild intensifier. The nurse left the airlock, leaving Drakken and Shego completely alone at last. "You know, once I finish getting decontaminated, I don't have any non-radioactive clothes here..."

"Oh, I brought some," said Shego, "but I like where you were going with that. All the more reason for you to get better."

"Now, don't get all soft on me, Shego."

"No, _you_ don't get soft on _me_, Dr. D." Just then, a Global Justice agent burst into Shego's room. Reflexively, Shego lit up.

"We have a hostage situation. Dr. Director asked for you personally."

"But..."

"Go, Shego," said the recovering scientist. "I'll either be here or back home. You've got more important things to do than to talk to some irradiated old schmuck." Shego was not reassured by his words, but she obeyed them and the agent. It took a few minutes for her to reach the situation room, where she joined Kim, Ron, Dr. Director, Will Du, and Dr. Rodgers.

"Oh, hello everyone," said Shego. "Dr. Rodgers, what are you doing here?"

"The initial message from Sheldon specifically mentioned me and Kim by name. I also have experience negotiating hostage situations."

"Hang on, we're picking up another message from Gemini."

"Hello, little sister and lackeys."

"He did not just call us lackeys," said Kim and Shego at the same time.

"You may be wondering why I asked everyone to be here. Obviously, Betty, her organization and I have a bit of a past, Kimberly and her buffoon have stopped my plans before, and Shego has betrayed our cause. But you're probably wondering, why Dr. Rodgers?" Gemini turned on another light in his plane revealing a person tied to a chair with a burlap sack over him or her. "I've picked up the same threats as you all have, but I don't know who's behind them. That's beside the point. In my effort to try to outdo your three-ring circus, I discovered something very interesting about the good professor. In quite the happy coincidence, for me at least, I also traced a call from your campus to a yacht in the Pacific. I now introduce to you my hostage. He removed the sack from the hostage's head, revealing Bonnie's face.

"Does she look familiar, Dr. Rockwaller?"


	15. Chapter 15

Stunned silence filled the situation room. The original identity of the professor Kim and Ron knew as Dr. John Rodgers had been revealed to a select few, although it was abundantly clear that somehow this information had made its way to the Worldwide Evil Empire.

"You never got to meet this one, did you, Johnny? Do as I say or the first time you see her in person, she'll be on a slab. What's left of her, that is."

"D-D..." Before Bonnie could so much as get one word out, Gemini slapped her hard enough to echo throughout the mostly-empty fuselage.

"IT SPEAKS WHEN IT IS SPOKEN TO!" screamed Dr. Director's twin brother. "I will contact you again with my demands." Before anyone could reply, the connection was cut off. Kim and Ron looked to Dr. Rodgers/Rockwaller for any sign of where to go from here. His expression remained stoic.

"He's right, you know," he said after a few tense moments. "Before I was Dr. John Rodgers, I was one of Global Justice's top agents. I saw things, I did things...to kill me would have been taking the easy way out. But I had to take down just one more crook. My wife was expecting our third daughter and I had missed out on the first few years of the lives of the first two. I could put the target on them or put it on myself."

"None of us would have done it any other way," said Dr. Director. Kim was prepared to provide her own remarks akin to those of her superior, but before she could do so, Wade contacted her.

"Kim, I intercepted the transmission and I am currently tracking Gemini's plane."

"So you are aware of the identity of his current hostage," said Kim tersely.

"Yes, and the identity of her father as well."

"When did you know?" asked Ron.

"As soon as we started working with Global Justice, Dr. Director asked me to do a favor for one of her colleagues. I've been following Bonnie ever since then. He couldn't be there in person, but he wanted to know what was going on with all of them."

"I must confess," said the professor, "I did not realize I would be able to keep this a secret as long as we did. I thought at some point, someone could have found out somehow. I give you two most of the credit."

"Then why did you even continue with it?" asked Kim.

"If you have kids, you'll understand."

"Hey, I'm all for family reunions and other assorted niceness, but we have a villain who has a hostage and probably wants to prove how evil he is." Shego had only recently returned to the good side of the ethical spectrum, but her ability to cut to the chase had always come in handy.

"Quite agreed," said Will Du.

"You know I'm with Drakken now, so don't get any ideas."

"No need to be concerned. My interest in you has been and for the foreseeable future will be strictly professional."

"If it isn't..." Shego ignited a hand for a split second.

"Dr. Director, we have a problem," said Agent Du. "We can't seem to pick up the frequency Gemini is using. He's not on any of our radar systems and he can't be reached by any of our communication systems. Any of his attempts to provide further instructions are going to fall on deaf ears unless he is willing to reach out to us. Unless we have an alternate method of reaching that plane, Miss Rockwaller could be in grave danger." The implications of the agent's words gradually sank in with everyone in the room. All of a sudden, Ron remembered what Wade had just told everyone a few minutes ago.

"Wade, when you said you were helping Doctor, um, that guy keep track of Bonnie, what exactly were you doing?" asked Ron.

"You didn't have her chipped or anything like that?" Wade seemed to sweat ever so slightly.

"Well, mostly I followed her simply through existing surveillance, but there is one chip in her, placed there on her mother's request. She thought that someone might try to use her to get to you. I put in an experimental model. If it works, we can talk to her directly."

"What, you could have reached us all these years without our Kimmunicators?" Kim was growing very concerned, to put it mildly.

"No, I used a different model with you two. Since Bonnie doesn't have any sort of Kimmunicator, I incorporated some of the components into her tracking chip. Well, here goes everything." Wade entered a few codes into his workstation and waited a few seconds.

* * *

Bonnie felt a strange sensation that felt like it was coming from inside her jaw. Although it was not an inherently pleasant sensation, it was far superior to the rope burn on her wrists, the bruises in places she didn't even know could be bruised. For a second, she thought she could hear someone calling her name.

"Bonnie! Say something if you can hear me!"

"What the..." She was certain it was real, and for some reason it sounded like Kim's nerd. Maybe he could help her get out of this one. "Yeah, but why? I mean, did someone plant a bug on me or something?"

"Are you OK?"

"You probably saw that little video Captain Hook sent out."

"I did..."

"SO WHAT COULD POSSIBLY MAKE YOU BELIEVE THAT I COULD POSSIBLY BE OKAY RIGHT NOW?" Bonnie screamed; however, there was no indication that anyone had heard her. "I got snatched off a yacht with my impossibly rich and hot boyfriend and the man who's going to turn me into a superstar! Now after I get slapped around by Dr. Sibling Rivalry and tossed in the cargo hold, I get out of the ropes only to find out I've been chipped like a dog!" Wade was at a loss for words. He decided to come clean and tell her everything.

"When you had your wisdom teeth out..."

"Ugh, don't remind me. My sisters took a bunch of pictures of me and almost got Brick sent to jail, then they kept selling my Vicodin."

"Are you going to let me tell you why your mom had you bugged?"

"Sure, whatever...wait, what?"

"Your mom had me build a tracking device/communicator that could fit in one of your sockets because she thought one of Kim's villains would try to kidnap you and use you as bait or something." Bonnie had kind of tuned Wade's last sentence out; she was still fixated on who had asked for the chip.

"That...BITCH!" screamed Bonnie. "She's been doing this to me her whole life. Look, I know it was tough on her when my dad died before I was born, but if she was anything like this while he was alive..."

"Oh, Bonnie, about that..." Wade's attempt to tell her the truth about her father was cut off as Bonnie continued her rant.

"...I wouldn't have blamed him if he had been faking it."

"Family issues aside, let's get you out of there."

"And when I get home, get this out of me!"

"One moral dilemma at a time, please. Take a look around. What all is down there?" Bonnie could hardly see a thing in the poorly-lit compartment. She fumbled around in the near-pitch-blackness, moving as quietly as possible to disguise the fact that he had slipped her bonds and was free to move about the cabin. Her hand wrapped around a hard cylindrical object, and she felt it looking for a switch, hoping that she had stumbled upon a flashlight. She found what she thought was a switch and flipped it. No light, just vibration. She switched it off and moved her hand towards the other end, which tapered to a rounded end. Bonnie dropped the object in disgust.

"I hope no one's used that," Bonnie said to herself.

"Anything yet?" asked Wade.

"Only one thing...you don't want to know. I'll let you know if I find anything useful."

"What was it? I could probably find a way it could be useful."

"No, trust me, there's no way it could be used to get me out of here. It just vibrates."

"Then it probably has batteries. Find it again and take the batteries out."

"I threw it away after I realized what it was..."

"I don't see...Ooh, wait, now I get it. I understand. The batteries still could come in handy."

* * *

"You know if it were me up there, Rufus would have gotten us out of there by now." Ron was by far the most relaxed person in the situation room.

"Where is he?" asked Will.

"He's back at my place; we didn't know what all was up until we came here."

"If you don't know if you need him, you should have him."

"Which I covered back in September," said Dr. Rodgers/Rockwaller. "I guess you slept through that lecture." Kim glared at Ron.

"I can explain, professor. You're boring." Kim's glare sharpened a bit, but the professor laughed it off.

"I appreciate the honesty. But you know, someone once told me the life of a soldier consists of long periods of boredom and short periods of terror."

"I don't follow," said Ron. Before anyone could explain the metaphor, Wade came in on the big screen.

"Bonnie was thrown into the cargo hold and managed to untie herself. She's down there looking for anything that could be useful. Once she does that, I'll find a way to get her out and bring down WEE like the house of cards it is."

"Thank you, Wade."

"I just wanted to say how much we appreciate your efforts." Dr. Rodgers addressed Kim's long-time tech guru. "Besides, I'd kind of like to talk with my daughter for the first time."

"I will make it so," said Wade and he meant it. "Okay, let's see where she is." He switched back over to her feed. "Bonnie, are you still with us? Great! That should make things a little easier." Wade turned back to Kim and Ron.

"The good news is, Bonnie found a flashlight and a crowbar..."

"Maybe I should get on there," Ron interrupted Wade. "The Ron-Man has the proper Smarty Mart crowbar usage protocol memorized like an episode of _The Fearless Ferret_!"

"With all due respect, Cadet Stoppable, I have studied your interactions with Miss Rockwaller, and I advise that you leave her in Wade's hands," said Will. "I know where I'd have my hands," he added underneath his breath.

"What was that, Agent Du?" asked Bonnie's father.

"Nothing of relevance to the mission."

"I presume your advice regarding interaction of Middleton High School alumni applied to Miss Possible as well?" asked Dr. Director.

"Yes. Although their relationship has improved in recent months, some people just don't take orders well from certain people, even if they aren't really orders." Kim looked away for a second to roll her eyes at that last comment.

"You know, I kind of like the sound of that. 'Cadet Stoppable' has a ring to it," said Ron absent-mindedly.

"Agent Stoppable sounds better to me," said Kim.

"For me or you?" Before Kim could go anywhere with that, Wade came in with more news on the Bonnie situation.

"Okay, I think we have enough to work with here. When Gemini lands, his bargaining chip will be ours already." Kim had rarely known Wade to have this kind of swagger on a mission. She never thought it would come up in such a situation, but if this ultimately led to a better outcome, she was for it. Wade's attention returned to the captive. "Okay, now you're going to want to strip the ends of the wires..." An awkward silence filled the Global Justice situation room.

"Talk about research for a role," said Ron.

"What are you talking about?" asked Will.

"Considering how talented his son is, he has decided to focus his attempts on creating a superstar on a potential future daughter-in-law."

"They'll flame out within a year or so..." began Dr. Director, but then they overheard Wade.

"No! You are not going to go your own way if that's what you mean! Bonnie! Bonnie!" Dr. Director ran over to a control console and tried to tap into the feed coming from Bonnie's tracking device.

"What's going on up there?" yelled Kim and Ron's professor. Betty finally managed to get Wade to send them Bonnie's frequency, but she immediately removed the headphones. Kim ran over to try to hear what the director of Global Justice had heard. There was nothing but the sound of air rushing by at what sounded like terminal velocity.

* * *

AN: This chapter is a bit shorter than previous ones. Writer's block has been the norm rather than the exception lately in all my writing pursuits; this is but one of them. There is not too far to go for this particular story. Review and I shall make an effort to reply.


	16. Chapter 16

"BONNIE! COME IN!" Wade screamed in an effort to be heard over the howling air. No one on the campus of the Global Justice Academy had idea what was going on with Bonnie. All they knew was that Wade had a plan and that something had changed drastically.

"John, do you need some time alone?" Dr. Director asked the professor.

"No. Liz, we are in the middle of an operation. I need to remain a part of it. The Worldwide Evil Empire will fall tonight. I can't let my previous life interfere with that. Besides, if I do things right this time, Bonnie can be a part of my current life." He sat back down with Kim and Ron. Then Kim called Wade up on her Kimmunicator.

"Wade!"

"Kim, in case you weren't aware, I'm kind of busy right now."

"I am aware. Can you track Bonnie's location? I mean, you were giving her instructions just a few minutes ago."

"Her tracking bug is a thousand miles from anywhere in the Pacific. Given that all I can hear is...no, wait, it's quieting down some. Let me try again."

"What are the coordinates?" asked Will Du. Wade provided him Bonnie's last known location. "We can have a chopper there from Hawaii in about five hours. The water is warm enough that it shouldn't be a problem in terms of hypothermia. Now in terms of potential pelagic predators, that could present problems."

"Agent Du! What have I told you about alliteration?" Dr. Director was acting surprised at the lapse in professionalism from the "Number One Agent."

"Always avoid alliteration," he said, barely suppressing a laughing fit. Kim was genuinely shocked to see Will and Betty cutting up at a time like this. Dr. Rockwaller sensed her consternation and offered an explanation.

"At the risk of spoiling the last lecture before Thanksgiving break, Global Justice has recently instituted a policy that encourages humor in stressful situations. Prevents panic decisions and can lead to new, useful ways of handling crises."

"I can see that," said Kim. "It's just that our first encounter with GJ left quite an impression." Kim sort of glared at an inattentive Will Du.

"And I understand your skepticism about this initiative," said Will. Turns out he was listening to Kim.

"Oh, let me try one!" yelled Ron excitedly.

"It doesn't work that way. I'll explain in the lecture."

"Never mind that! I've got a live one here!" called Wade.

* * *

"Wait for it..." Bonnie finally got around to responding to the incoming communication. "I'm in the water, and..." she glanced off in the distance, "pretty soon there's going to be a plane in the water. Or what's left of it."

"Bonnie, what did you do? I told you to..." Wade found himself cut off.

"I rummaged through the cargo hold, just like you said. I found a parachute which I figured I could turn into a life raft of sorts..."

"We needed you there, now they're just going to crash in the first building they can find, and probably ditch just in time."

"Well, if you'd let me finish, I'd tell you about the shitload of C4 and C4 accessories that I also found. A few wires in the right places, a timer set for a few minutes, a detonator...KA-BLAMMO!" The room was in stunned silence for a second that felt like an hour. Agent Du seemed to be the first to grasp the meaning of her words.

"Miss Rockwaller, do you realize how much paperwork we're going to have to fill out now? How many prying media snakes we're going to have to explain this to?" said Will Du. Bonnie was incensed at the reception she was receiving from someone who people once called Global Justice's number one agent. "I've never been happier to do that before in my life, and I assure you that everyone from Dr. Director on downward feels the same way." Will glanced around the room and saw a few nods of appreciation. However, everyone seemed too tired to do much in the way of celebrating. They were just glad things would be winding up.

"That's all well and good, but all the appreciation in the world isn't going to get me out of here...I mean, the water doesn't feel too bad, no hypothermia or anything, but I want to keep as many layers between me and sharks as possible."

"We need you to hang in there for a couple of hours. A chopper is en route. Try not to get eaten." Bonnie heard nothing but static for the time being, but she didn't really have a problem being out of touch with the world for a little while. She had just done something that Kim had never done before, with far less experience and less support. She had Wade and Global Justice, but no Ron or Rufus. Gloating would have to wait until she was on dry land; it would be that much better to do it in person anyway.

* * *

"We should probably sleep in our own beds tonight," said Kim.

"Yeah, I know what you mean; they could ask for us back at any time," Ron said, a little disappointed they wouldn't be able to carry out a "stealth mission" that night. The chilly rain did little to improve Ron and Kim's moods; for some reason, they didn't seem to feel the way they did after their successful missions back in the day.

"Our villains have a way of surviving these sort of things," noted Kim. Especially if they already have significant amounts of their bodies replaced with mechanical parts."

"Yeah, but still, plane blows up at thirty thousand feet. Doesn't sound too survivable to me." Kim didn't respond right away.

"Neither does getting kicked into an electrical tower hard enough to shatter a concrete support, then having said tower collapse on you, and yet Shego was there with us tonight." Ron and Kim continued their walk in silence for a little while longer, until they came to Ron's house. It sounded like there were at least two of Ron's roommates at home.

"Ooh, I hope they didn't need anything out of my room, considering we had to leave in quite a rush. It probably reeks in there now."

"They respect your privacy, right?" Kim's rhetorical question was answered by the round of applause that greeted them.

"Kim," said Dustin, "you left some things here," he said, holding Kim's panties in the air.

"Dude, really?" said Ron.

"She left them in the bathroom and apparently she used my towel." Kim did have to admit to the not-so-secret-anymore borrowing of Dustin's towel, but in her defense, it was the only dry one left in the bathroom and the weather wasn't exactly ideal for going outside with wet hair.

"Okay, but still, what makes you believe that Ron and I were..."

"First of all, I never said anything about that sort of thing. Now that you bring it up, the fact that you seem to have such a reaction to me indirectly suggesting the possibility...am I wrong to be suspicious?"

"Is there any answer I can give that would change your mind about what you believe happened? Besides, you talk about it like it's a bad thing. Maybe because of your own failings in that area?" Kim left the Texan speechless. "See, I can hit nerves too."

"KP, give it a rest," said Ron. "I've dealt with him more than you have. You're not going to get anywhere with him. He's trying to get into the GJ Prosecution Force training program." Kim reluctantly let bygones be bygones.

"So, anyway, I haven't really dealt too much with your housemates nor you with mine. Maybe we should all get together sometime," suggested Dustin, desperate to change the subject.

"Let's do that some other night, I'm sure they'll understand," said Kim.

"Or they would if they knew about it, but since we see a lot more of each other than we see of them, and we just came up with the idea just now..." Kim cut her boyfriend off before he could continue.

"Ron, what have I told you about letting your mind wander too far down dark alleys?" Kim asked exasperatedly.

"Um, nothing. You've never brought it up before." Which, in Ron's defense, was true.

"Well, I've implied it. Basically if you let your mind wander too far, you might lose it."

"Spoken like the daughter of a brain surgeon." Ron couldn't help smiling.

* * *

"And you don't even have warm nuts!" Bonnie grumbled indignantly.

"Consider yourself lucky we're not making you ride with the corpse," said the GJ agent. "Or that you're on this plane at all."

"Is that any way to treat someone who actually finished off a villain, unlike certain other less-endowed Middleton High School alumnae? You probably haven't looked at my face at all since you came and got me." Admittedly, she had them on all counts.

"You may want to get some rest. Once we get back to base, you'll have a lot of talking to do. Then again, it's not like that's a big stretch for you, no?" The agent was doing everything in his power not to sneer at Bonnie.

"Keep this up and I may just have to talk my possible future father-in-law to get back into the whole evil thing." No one reacted to this, and the rest of the flight was made in silence. They arrived in Hawaii a couple of hours later. They were greeted by yet another Global Justice agent.

"I swear, you people all look the same. Do you even have names?"

"Yes, but that's on a need-to-know basis, and you don't need to know," the new agent said in a particularly clipped tone.

"With that attitude, I can see why Kim wants to join up with you. A stick in the mud like her is going to fit right in."

"We look forward to her being an integral part of GJ," said the agent, not missing a beat. It was as though he was accustomed to individuals like Bonnie. His communication device began to vibrate, and he answered. "Senior Agent Ryan...yes, I understand...I'm sure she'll be heartbroken...tomorrow it is."

"What?"

"You won't be interrogated until tomorrow. Does your boyfriend or his father have a place here?"

"Don't ask questions you should already know the answer to. Of course they have a place here, but he's not going to let you stay here. I take it you'll pick me up in the morning."

"About that...according to the terms of one of his pardons, and I quote, 'Global Justice personnel are entitled to the use of any residences; amount of any compensation is to be determined solely by Global Justice.' So there."

"Whatever." The Global Justice agent had no retort, but Bonnie thought it best not to further provoke him. A limousine was parked just outside the gate, and soon they were at a penthouse that, during the day at least, had a view of Diamond Head.

"Do you keep any clothes here, Miss Rockwaller, or do we need to hit up somewhere?"

"Yes and yes."

"I'm afraid that's not a valid answer. Here, you look thirsty." The agent tossed a bottle of water to Bonnie. She caught it, opened it and drank about half of it in one gulp. For a second, she thought she tasted something a little off.

"What's with this..." Bonnie wasn't able to finish her question/complaint. She slumped onto the couch, fast asleep. The agent wandered over to the master bedroom and crawled between the sheets.

* * *

"While I can understand his motivations, HE ROOFIED MY DAUGHTER!"

"John, please." Dr. Director had no children of her own, which didn't help her attempts to calm the seething professor.

"I know, I know, none of your agents would take advantage of an unconscious young woman..." He trailed off, glaring at Will Du.

"Look, a lot of things happened that Mardi Gras..."

"Back to business!" Betty snapped. "Agent Du, should we bring in Stoppable and Possible for Bonnie's statement, and should we allow her to get re-acquainted with Dr. Rodgers before or after said statement?"

"Excuse me, I believe I should be making these decisions," said Dr. Rodgers. "Yes, and after."

"I concur." said Agent Du.

"The plane carrying Bonnie is due to arrive at Leesburg in two hours. Please have transport to our campus awaiting her," Dr. Director ordered.

"We have a van en route. Traffic is a mess but we should be there with time to spare. We are also attempting to reach Cadets Stoppable and Possible." Before Will could continue any further, another call came.

"Dr. Director?" inquired a familiar voice.

"Wade, can you reach them?"

"Yes, they will be in shortly. They have also requested to be placed on stealth missions following Bonnie's deposition." Wade seemed to cringe a little upon saying that last part.

"Denied for the time being, we still need them to assist in discussing the final status of Cadet Seay." Dr. Director cut off Wade. The flurry of activity died down gradually over the next hour or so. The plane carrying Bonnie landed without incident, and she arrived on the Global Justice Academy campus shortly thereafter. Kim, Will, Ron and Dr. Director were there to greet her.

"Bonnie, I..." started Kim, but she trailed off when Bonnie passed her by and headed straight for Ron.

"Sorry, K, I think I'm better discussing this with someone else who has actually finished off a villain or two." Kim quickly interposed herself between Bonnie and Ron, who had no objections to Kim's actions.

"Actually, we want all of you in there for Miss Rockwaller's statement," said Dr. Director. They entered a conference room and had a rather long discussion of Bonnie's little adventure. Dr. Rodgers/Rockwaller observed from a nearby room, where Patrick Seay was being held.

"It looks like she managed to get you a little bit off the hook," said the professor.

"So, what now?"

"I would not plan on graduating from here. That being said, I think we can at least get your life back in order and on track."

* * *

AN: I have been busy with the job hunt and my original work. I finally found some time to get back to this story, but it all feels like a mess right now. The end is near, review and I shall reply.


	17. Chapter 17

"I guess this is it," said Kim. Will Du was escorting Patrick Seay to an undisclosed location off-campus. He had essentially had almost all charges dropped in exchange for withdrawal from GJA and agreeing to a degree of surveillance similar to that which Drakken and Shego were subjected.

"There will probably be some mop-up duty along the way," said Dr. Director. "Depending on how pink-slip happy my brother..." She trailed off and seemed to lose herself in some far off place for a minute.

"Um, Dr. Director?" started Ron before Kim cut him off.

"Can you come with me for a second?" Kim didn't give Ron the opportunity to answer that; she pulled him into a nearby hallway.

"In case you weren't aware, Dr. Director lost her brother. It doesn't matter what he did, you need to let her have her space."

"KP, I didn't mean to..."

"I know you didn't. Sometimes I wonder if Dr. Director realized it was her brother when everything was going down. Maybe it hit her just now. I don't know what I would do if the Tweebs went evil."

"Welcome our new twin overlords?" offered Ron, hoping to lighten the mood a bit. It worked; Kim had to stifle her laughter.

"I'd try not to kill them, probably easier for me than for you," said Bonnie, who had just wandered into the same hallway that Kim and Ron had found. "I have ways of dealing with adolescent boys." Judging from Bonnie's demeanor, Kim guessed that Bonnie had not yet met face-to-face with Dr. Rodgers and certainly didn't know his true identity.

"I'm sure they'll appreciate that," Kim said almost absent-mindedly. "Oh, and you might want to give Dr. Director some time."

"Wasn't heading her way. I was looking for Dr. Rodgers. I just wanted to thank him personally."

"Well, this is new," said Ron. "Bon-Bon, showing a little gratitude."

"Whatever. I'm just glad he didn't fall for the whole 'Dr. Rockwaller' thing, didn't let that fruitcake psych him out. Where is he, by the way?"

"I don't know. But you two do need to talk." Kim tried to call him up on her Kimmunicator. "Are you busy? OK, there's someone I think you should meet with while you can." Kim expected a reply of some kind, but there was none. The professor had hung up, leaving Kim with a disturbed look on her face.

"K? Kim? Is everything all right?"

"Let me show you where his office is," said Kim. "Ron, stay here." Kim and Bonnie went out to the hallway outside her professor's office. The door was cracked enough for Kim to see that the office was occupied. Bonnie slowly opened the door. When she and the professor made eye contact, he flinched slightly. He slowly rose from his chair and walked over to Bonnie. Her thoughts were racing; what Gemini had said on the plane was true! Neither of them said anything for a minute. To an outside observer, it would appear that they were having a staring contest. Surprisingly to Kim and Ron, there were virtually no tears; Bonnie and her father were in too much shock to show any real emotions. Dr. Rockwaller stepped away from his daughter for a minute.

"Miss Possible, Mr. Stoppable, can you give us a little more privacy?"

"Sure thing," said Kim. Kim and Ron went back outside, leaving the professor and his daughter alone in the office.

"Mom told me you were dead. Connie and Lonnie told me it was my fault. Everyone rubbed it in my face. I-I-I..." Bonnie trailed off and let the waterworks flow into her father's shoulder.

* * *

"Let me be clear, Elizabeth. My gratitude at this time is in no way a sign that I have abandoned my hobbies." Señor Senior, Sr. and his son were en route to a location to be determined later to take Bonnie back with the two of them to a location to be determined later. Junior was asleep in his cabin on the private jet while his father was thanking Dr. Director and her organization for their assistance.

"Mr. Senior, I do urge you to reconsider. While Global Justice is rid of one more enemy..."

"I was unclear whether I should offer congratulations or condolences," the elder statesman of evil interrupted.

"I don't know if I can answer that. But the least you could do is offer me the opportunity to speak freely without interruption." Señor nodded, apparently obliging. "I thought that I had done my mourning for my twin brother back when he was first caught. The whole 'you're dead to me' sort of thing; I'm sure you've felt that way about people in your life."

"Certainly towards business associates, but never towards anyone in my family. I cannot imagine what I would do if Junior were to take evil too far. I feared that I was sending Bonnie on such a path, but it seems my fears may have been unfounded based on these past few days."

"We will be continuing to create a psychological profile of her, especially as she puts some time between herself and her ordeal." Kim and Ron entered Dr. Director's office.

"Kimberly, Ronald, good to see you. I assure you that Junior is most grateful for your efforts."

"Um, thank you?" Kim wasn't exactly sure how to feel about having Junior on her side, given some of her history with the only person she felt exceeded Bonnie in vanity. It was up to Ron to break the awkward silence.

"So, anyway, about the whole 'Bonnie playing Kim in a movie' thing..."

"I do not believe this to be a time to be thinking about such matters," said SSS, a little irritated with Ron.

"Well, couldn't this get her mind off of all this?" asked Ron.

"Considering what happened just a few minutes ago..." Kim was about to join SSS in admonishing Ron before the billionaire interrupted.

"What happened just a few minutes ago?"

"There was a bit of a family reunion," said Kim. From there, Dr. Director took over the story.

"In a previous life, one of the professors here had three little girls. Before the third one was born, he found himself forced on the run for reasons I cannot disclose. The youngest one eventually found herself a rival whom we all know well..."

"I...I understand now." SSS paused. He normally looked rather young for his age, but hearing about Dr. Rockwaller seemed to age him more than a few years in a few seconds. He sat in deep thought a minute. The years that had been added on to him by Dr. Director's revelations vanished just as quickly as they had arisen.

"What was that all about?" asked Ron.

"Since Bonnie caught the eye of my son, she has rapidly become a part of our family; I am the only one who appears to approve of her, apart from my son of course. I was the closest thing she had to a father or a family that seemed to care."

"And you've been replaced by the real thing."

"I think we need to talk one on one about this. Good evening Kimberly, Ronald and Elizabeth." The screen went to a test pattern.

* * *

"You know what? Nuh-uh." Shego and Drakken did not see eye to eye regarding the state of his health. Shego took his doctors' side and wanted him to stay one more night in the hospital, while Drakken was quite insistent on his fitness to be discharged.

"What, do you want me to do a cartwheel or something?"

"No, I'd never ask you to do that. I know how much you hate chiropractors. But when I'm listening to two different opinions on your health, I am more inclined to listen to people who actually earned the title of 'Doctor.'"

"Nngghh! Shego!" Drakken had never liked it when his assistant brought up his failings as far as formal education was concerned. "So, when considering someone's health, you trust someone who has never met the person than the person themselves."

"Dr. D, I..."

"Am I wrong in my assessment of what you are telling me?"

"No, you are not wrong. But I'm not wrong either. When you come to your senses, call me! I'm going home." Shortly after Shego walked out of Drakken's room in a huff, the one-time villain who was a buzz cut away from membership in the Blue Man Group picked up his phone, but he wasn't calling his longest-lasting girlfriend. The call went straight to "an automated voicemail service."

"Hmph, no one checks those messages. Not even Dr. Director. I'll try KIM POSSIBLE!" Drakken was fortunate that to his knowledge, no one heard that rather loud verbal tic/relapse.

"Dr. Drakken! Sorry, I'm still trying to get used to not being your enemy," said Wade.

"Well, I was looking for Kim, but you'll work."

"What do you want?" Wade asked.

"A second opinion. See, the doctors here aren't letting me go home..." Drakken was cut off.

"I'm not that kind of doctor, Drew. Wow, that sounded weird."

"I'm cool with being on a first-name basis with you, unlike certain rocket scientists who shall remain nameless, if possible. Anyway, it was worth a try. On to Plan B; can you patch me through to Kim?"

"And you would like her to do what?"

"Talk Dr. Director into letting my doctors let me go. Have you had hospital food? I mean, this is probably the best hospital food I've had, but that's like being the world's tallest midget...or dwarf...or whatever you're supposed to call them now."

"Dude, you're rambling again. One more night won't kill you." With that, Wade cut off a long-time enemy.

* * *

If Dr. Rodgers had revealed his true identity to Bonnie Rockwaller as recently as a year before he did, their first meeting, it's had to imagine that it would have gone nearly as well as it did actually go. Undoubtedly, once the professor revealed his employer, it would have turned into an hour-long rant from Bonnie about Kim Possible, and her father would have just smiled and nodded all that time, occasionally throwing out platitudes while rolling his eyes on the inside. Instead, Bonnie hardly mentioned Kim at all. Soon the topic came to the Seniors' movie plan.

"Overall, I would have to defer to Dr. Director on all of that. I certainly have no objections at this point, but that may change once we have to start dealing with everyone else involved with the film. We've arrested the executive producer on multiple occasions. Also, we're trying keep knowledge of the existence and certainly the location of this base secret from anyone who doesn't absolutely need to know."

"But my phone has GPS," said Bonnie.

"Try it." Bonnie did as her father told her, and sure enough, her phone said that she was standing on a runway at Dulles.

"I see what you did there." Bonnie was impressed.

"Well, I have to finish writing up the final exam for Kim and Ron's class. Let's all have dinner over at Kim's house," suggested Dr. Rockwaller.

"On one condition. Ron's cooking."

"Look, I am his professor and with a 100 on the final, he'll be one point short of an A. What kind professor would I be if I didn't dangle that as an incentive?"

"Mr. Barkin?" asked Bonnie. Her father laughed.

"Yes, Steve never would have given Stoppable a fair go at it. I kept telling him that he needed to get over that funny look, but some people just are that hard-headed."

"Wait a minute. How do you know about that?" asked Bonnie, puzzled.

"While I was Dr. Rodgers, I wanted some way to make things were going all right with you three, but I had to keep my distance. Couldn't have you spending your childhood and/or adolescence on the run."

"So why the change?"

"I was thinking about it for a while. Do you realize what it's like to have watch what became of your sisters and mother and just having to sit there and watch?" Although his voice barely rose above a whisper, it was clear that this conversation was turning emotional.

"You had it easy, you didn't have to live it!" Bonnie felt the waterworks about to crank back up, more out of anger than anything else.

"I was afraid you might try something to make a good impression on a possible future father-in-law. I didn't want to have this meeting in an interrogation room." Bonnie slumped back into her father's arms, sobbing slightly. "You know, let's continue this a little later."

* * *

It's not easy serving dinner for fourteen people and a naked mole rat, especially when the chef had only planned on five people and a naked mole rat. However, Ron found a way. What was more difficult was finding room for everyone to eat comfortably. Weather permitting, they would have simply moved a few tables, chairs and other furniture outside. But weather was not permitting; just a few degrees cooler outside and the white stuff would be piling up. Instead, the chilly rain soaked everyone and everything coming in and out of the house shared by Kim Possible and three other young women.

"I told you having Kim live here would pay off," Andrea told Marina just after Dr. Director walked in, followed shortly by Agent Du. A little while later, Ron's housemates came by.

"Hey, isn't that the good professor of Intro to GJ?" asked Dustin when Dr. Rockwaller and his daughter entered.

"I'm sure I have students that say the same thing about Dr. Wilson. Also, if you're going to look at my daughter like that, please adjust your gaze upward."

"I'm taken for now, anyway," Bonnie added smugly.

"Yes, yes, I was _the_ Dr. Drakken, but I've put that past me as long as it's convenient for me to do so." Noticing the director of Global Justice was probably within earshot, he added, "and as long as Betty there has anything to say about it, it will be a heck of a lot more convenient for me to be Drew Lipsky than Dr. Drakken."

"No one has any food allergies, right?" Ron hoped everyone could hear him.

"Isn't it a little late for that, buffoon?" Shego was the only one to respond. "But no, I've got nothing. Kimmie! Anyone with allergies in there?"

"Hey, only I get to sexually harass Ron while he's cooking!" Kim then heard a familiar yelp from the kitchen just before she entered.

"Look, if you're going to accuse me of something, at least let me have the satisfaction of actually having done it, cupcake."

"KP, Shego, no fighting in the kitchen." Ron shooed the feuding women out and returned to the main course.

"Keep in mind that I can incorporate this into your re-evaluation." Will Du never liked to pass up an opportunity to remind anyone whom he had power over of this fact.

"Understood, Du-du." Will would long regret the day he let anyone know the nickname his four-year-old niece had given him.

"All right people, listen up!" Ron briefly channeled Barkin a few minutes after the brief fracas in the kitchen. "I am constructing the plates right now, you will be eating within the next ten minutes." That served to kill most conversation. There was a scramble to claim prime eating locations. Ron's housemates had claimed the coffee table in front of Kim's television, while Kim's housemates took their usual spots at the dining room table. Kim and Ron's usual places (he ate there often enough for him to have his own spot at the end of the table) were occupied by Dr. Director and Agent Du, and Kim and Ron were not about to demand that they eat elsewhere. Drakken, Shego, Bonnie and her father took the outdoor table that had been bought in for the weather. By the time Kim (who had insisted that she be served last) and Ron were the last two people to not be eating, there was nowhere for them to eat, unless...

"Looks like we've got the kitchen all to ourselves." Of course the dinner was the best thing that Bonnie had ever eaten, and it was at least in everyone else's top ten. Ron and Kim were accustomed to Ron's culinary prowess, and Drakken, Shego and everyone there who worked in any capacity for Global Justice had at least a taste of Ron's capabilities. Ron finished well ahead of Kim. Before obtaining a second helping, he asked for a critique of the dinner.

"So, KP, how is everything?"

"As your girlfriend I am required to tell you how amazing everything is. As a completely unbiased critic, I owe it to myself to be brutally honest and tell you how amazing everything is." Kim finished the last few bites on her plate.

"I appreciate your honesty. But I can't wait 'til it's just us."

"Me neither. This whole sitch has been so convoluted. I'm glad we got Bonnie back with her father, but have we put all of them in danger?"

"Let's not worry about it too much," said Ron. "I mean, with everyone out there, we haven't had to go into hiding, change our names, could we do it?" All of a sudden, Ron was disobeying his own advice, and Kim called him out on it.

"Ron, don't panic," Kim wrapped an arm around her boyfriend. "Maybe Dr. Rodg- er, Rockwaller has just been so used to running he doesn't know how to do anything else." Her attempts to placate Ron were only bringing out her anxieties, and Ron could tell.

"Look, KP, whatever happens, we'll face it together. If Dr. Rockwaller has to go on the run again, he won't be alone either." He pulled Kim a little closer. A few of the guests had finished their dinners and had come to the kitchen in search of seconds. Those who entered would see Kim and Ron half-asleep in each other's arms. A year ago, Bonnie would have had some snarky barb to fire at the couple, but not this time. Even if she did, Kim and Ron wouldn't be paying attention. Instead, Kim and Ron had reunited a family, had brought a dozen people together and helped rid the world of one more villain.

* * *

AN: Well, it's not much of an ending, but I didn't want to leave it completely open. I have recently started graduate school, and I have multiple other writing projects going as well, so I wanted to give this some semblence of closure. I put things in this story that I had planned on spreading out over several stories, but I simply don't have the time to write that much in a timely manner. I anticipate that I will be able to find the time to write one-shots every now and then, so I'm not going away forever. I thank everyone for their reviews and support.


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